CHEER UP!
by a basket full of flowers
Summary: Tsuna becomes a magical girl/boy, and the rest of the world wonders just what is going on. [Gen]
1. The Welcoming Cat

—❀—

Tsuna only rarely remembers his dreams, but there is one that is always the same.

It usually begins with Tsuna himself, dressed in a weird, princelike, pink outfit. He would be standing in the middle of a deserted street, a street that would be just as cutesy as his outfit: flowers, strange fantasy font, pastel colors... It all seems to have jumped out of a princess story.

There would be a slight breeze, ruffling his hair and the long coat of his outfit, and making him notice the jiggling earrings he wore.

Then would come a voice. "Shouldn't you hurry? You're running late," the voice would say. He would turn to find the owner of said voice, only to find his mother trying to wake him up.

That's how it always goes.

Most of the time, he doesn't think about it, but at the moment, he can't help but think about it.

"You're not very polite, are you? I thought most humans answered when you talked to them," the little creature says, peering up at him with beady red eyes.

Tsuna honestly can't tell how this happened, or how this is even possible, but there is an alien creature in front of him. It's small, pink, and has the voice he hears in his dream. He knows it's the exact same, because he doesn't think any creature on Earth would ever be able to reproduce the tiny squeaks in its voice.

"I, um," he says. "What?"

"I said," the creature with the human yet inhuman voice says, "I am here to help you accomplish your part of the Contract."

Tsuna can physically notice the capital letter on Contract, and it feels like a punch to the gut. Oh, what has he done now? He doesn't remember signing any contract, nuh huh, his mom took care of that, not him!

"I'm not sure I follow," he says feebly.

"The Contract," the creature repeats patiently, "the one you signed."

"Pretty sure I didn't," he mutters. "I'm sorry, is this a— a joke? A prank? 'Cause, I'm sorry but it's not very funny."

"Earth's destruction would not be a funny prank," the creature allows. "And if you were to fail to complete your part of the Contract— well."

"Oh no," Tsuna, an eleven year old boy with a newly acquired magical choker around his neck, says. "I fell into a magical girl manga."

—❀—

The creature, who is named Momo (a cute name for such a terrifyingly human yet inhuman creature), informs him that this isn't, in fact, a magical girl manga, but that it indeed is still real life.

"It would be a lot easier if it indeed were just a manga," Momo tells him, almost jokingly, if such a creature were able of human emotions. "We would be able to use the tropes in our favor."

"You're not refuting it's magical girl related."

"Well," Momo says. "Technically, you are male, so it does not fit. However, if you wish to be referred to as a girl, I have no objection."

"That's not the problem here," Tsuna says, unsure why he is so calm in the first place. His hands are shaking, and he has collapsed on the floor by now, but he's not getting close to anything like a panic attack. In all, he feels almost frustratingly calm. "The problem is that modern magical girl mangas are all full of misery and tears— I mean, just look at Madoka Magica! People are still crying over it!—, and I really just want to play video games and whine about homework with my non-existent friends— not risk my life by fighting— by fighting what, exactly?"

"Stray Hearts."

"If it's just a matter of your heart straying, then can't people just— I don't know, get them back?"

"Tell that to a suicidal person."

Tsuna pulls a face, but Momo has got him on that one. He's still wondering why he's so calm.

"If it were this easy, we would not need your help. Magic has made things a whole lot harder."

"Magic?" he repeats, incredulous, but really, he should have foreseen it. Magical girls, after all. "And who is that 'we' you're talking about? The secret organization that wants to kill all the kids gullible enough to become magical girls and magical boys?"

"The world," Momo says, having absolutely no time for his bullshit. Good on you, Momo. Good on you. "To be more precise, your world. Most other worlds have no need for magical kids."

Is that what they're calling them, now? Magical kids? He hugs his knees to his chest, leaning back against his bed.

"And what— what am I even supposed to do?"

"Your purpose," Momo says, insisting heavily on the word, "is to defeat all the Stray Hearts. Once you defeat them, they will drop Heart Jewels, that you will collect. Those Heart Jewels will eventually be restored to their owners, once their core have been purified by staying your presence."

"In short," he says, laying a hand on the carpet, and using the other hand gesture around wildly, "you're telling me I'm gonna fight monsters who are I-don't-even-want-to-know strong, myself having never had any training at all and being able to trip over thin air. Then I'm gonna collect some pretty jewels, and keep them somewhere around me until they become, what, _pure_? Where does the bad stuff go, then? To me? Then, when all the jewels have been purified and I've given them back to their owners— and how am I even going to know whose jewel belong to who?—, everything will end, and I won't have to go around fighting monsters. Is that it?"

Momo doesn't hesitate to nod. "That's it." What a cruel creature.

"Ah," he shakes his head. "There's gotta be something hidden within it all. In Madoka Magica—"

"Madoka Magica's Kyuubei offered the young girls what they wished for," Momo counters. "I will give you nothing but— suffering, you seem to think."

"Seems pretty obvious to me that I'm gonna suffer," he says, a hint of hysterical laughter in his voice. "I mean, fighting monsters— pff, yeah, no, that's gotta be the easiest thing in the world, right?"

"Have no fear, Tsunayoshi," Momo reassures, but Tsuna's sure he has never told it his name, so it's more freaky than reassuring. "Once you transform, you will gain in vitality, endurance, strength, and agility."

"Oh, because there's a transformation, too?" Tsuna laughs, this time clearly hysterical. "Right, awesome. I guess during the transformation, I'm gonna get all cosmos-stars naked like in Sailor Moon and everyone on Earth is just gonna see my naked body. Oh, that's just _great_ —"

"And your mind will be appeased," Momo continues on, undisturbed. "In order to fight the most efficiently possible, you will need to analyze your enemy to know how to hit where it hurts." The creature pauses. "If you do not wish for people to see your naked body, then transform behind closed doors. You would not normally change in front of people, would you? Treat it as the same thing."

Tsuna groans, and sinks his head into his knees.

"There's no way I'm gonna do any of that, you know?" he eventually says, voice muffled.

Momo is silent.

"Why would I risk my life? Can't adults do it?"

"They cannot. You have been chosen."

"Don't I have a say in any of this?"

"You do," Momo says, and Tsuna hears little tapping sounds as it approaches him. "You have signed the Contract. You have agreed to complete it."

Tsuna's head snaps up so fast it gives him whiplash. "I don't even know what contract you're talking about! I've never signed a single contract in my entire life!"

Momo falls silent.

"This is unfair," he sulks. "I've never— what did I do to deserve this? Please just leave me alone."

"I cannot. You signed the Contract."

"I did not!"

Momo remains stoic. "You did. A long time ago. You might not remember."

"As if I'm gonna believe you," he snarks back. "You're acting all sure of yourself, but you have no proof. And even if you did, I'm— I'm a kid! You can't make me do anything!"

Momo is silent.

"...please leave me alone."

Silence.

He squeezes his eyes shut, and hides his face in his arms again. But even like that, he can still hear the tell-tale sound of Momo's tail, swishing around.

The horror of this situation has finally hit him. He has read enough magical girl manga to know how this ends, especially with horrifying yet cute creatures like Momo. Kyuubei's cruelty will forever be etched into his mind.

He does not want to fight. He does not want to die.

"If I were to leave you alone," Momo's voice picks up. "Then I would be dooming the rest of humanity. It does not amuse me to make you suffer, nor does it amuse me to send a child to what will most assuredly make him suffer, but I have no choice. No one other than you is suitable for the job, and no matter how harsh it sounds, one child suffering is better than every child on Earth dying in terrible pain.

"Even with you being sent to fight the Stray Hearts, there is no guarantee that our plan will succeed, no guarantee that you will make it to the end of the journey."

Tsuna peeks at Momo through his closed arms. The beady red eyes tell no tales, but the tail swishing has slowed down.

"However," Momo continues, voice going stronger. "I have faith in you, Tsunayoshi. I know that you will succeed in the task assigned to you, and you will do so without ever endangering yourself to the point of death." A pause, as Momo's eyes blink. "Tsunayoshi, if you cannot do it for me, for the Stray Hearts, or for yourself... then please do it for the children, the innocents. Do it for your mother."

His heart skips a beat.

His mother.

Mom.

Mom, who's cooking dinner downstairs. Mom, who had seemed so worried when he had rushed home with a bag that moved on its own. Mom, who had still greeted him with a blinding smile, even if he's Dame-Tsuna and the worst son on Earth.

"Mom..."

"My apologies for using her against you." It does not sound truly apologetic. "I do not mean to guilt-trip you; rather, I would like to ensure you know all the risks."

Tsuna presses his eyes against his forearm.

"If... If I don't do it... what will happen?"

"Humans will not be able to defend themselves, only magic being able to defeat Stray Hearts. The Stray Hearts will multiply, destroying cities, continents, and killing thousands. The grief will augment the number of Stray Hearts. Humanity will slowly disappear, and will be replaced by Stray Hearts."

Tsuna gulps.

"And Mom..."

"Your mother would die, too."

It's not a thought that occurs to him often— his mother dying, that is. It has, in the past, and he has shed a fair lot of tears over it. Sometimes he's reminded of his mother's mortality, but... It's never been a certainty, just a vague possibility. His imagination running wild, sometimes, or hearing a horrible story about the neighbor's mother or his classmate's aunt. It's never been so— so...

"I don't want to do it," he admits wetly.

"I understand."

"But Mom—"

"I know."

"I don't want to."

"I'm sorry."

"I don't want to die."

"Cheer up," the human yet inhuman says.

His sleeves are wet now. He sniffles one more time, then looks up. "How can I do it? I don't know how to fight."

"You will learn to with time. Have no worry, the first Stray Hearts are always the weakest."

"No exactly reassuring," Tsuna laughs. Momo doesn't. "And how do I transform anyway?"

—❀—

The transformation comes with a bright flash and some weird melody that fills the room for just a few seconds. The neighbors are going to complain about him again, and Mom—

"Tsu-kun?" Mom calls through the closed door. "I heard some noise. Is everything alright?"

—is already here?!

"Um," Tsuna says, eloquently, standing there in that princelike outfit. "I— um."

"Tsu-kun?" Mom calls again, sounding worried now. "I'm coming in now!"

"What? No! Wait!"

But it's too late, the door is already opening, and Tsuna has no time to either transform back (without flashing his mom—and wouldn't that be the worst possible event) or hide Momo under the bed.

In the end, caught in his indecisiveness, Mom is able to see Tsuna standing in the middle of his room, dressed in this stupid pink outfit, arms outstretched as if he wanted to slam the door closed, and (possibly) the most panicked expression on his face.

Mom blinks at him.

He blinks at her.

Momo calmly hides under the bed.

"Aah! Tsu-kun! You're so cute!" Mom gushes, rushing to him to embrace him in her arms. She hugs him to her chest, rocking him, and leaving a multitude of kisses on his forehead. "My cutest little boy, dressing up! You look like a prince!"

"M-Mom!" he whines loudly, half-heartedly trying to wiggle out of her grip. "Stop!"

She laughs, delighted.

"Don't take it off," she says, detaching herself from him. "I'm gonna go get the camera!"

"We'll have to choose a different outfit, then," Momo says, without leaving its hiding spot under the bed, as soon as Mom's footsteps begin down the stairs. "Otherwise she will recognize you once you go out to fight."

"Huh?" Tsuna sits down on the bed. "You mean she can't know it's me?"

Momo is silent for a moment, letting them hear Mom's muttering, as she no doubt rummages through the drawer full of Dad's (usually) unused presents for Tsuna— he... he doesn't like to think about them.

"She can, I suppose," Momo says. "However, your father..."

Tsuna makes a face. "If he's not gonna bother knowing about how I'm doing, then he's not gonna know about this," he says firmly.

"Good." Momo sounds almost— pleased? Weird. It never really output any feeling before.

Mom's victorious cry echoes from downstairs. It sounds almost like one of those video-game victory jingle.

"So you're sure I can tell her?" Tsuna asks, for confirmation. He suddenly feels nervous about it all... should he really tell her? Maybe they could both pretend he didn't really go out fighting monsters... or maybe he should let her learn about it by herself? It sounded cruel but... How could he tell her?

"Yes."

Tsuna huffs a breath, shakes his arms, hoping to get some nerves back into himself. It's never worked before, and it certainly doesn't work now.

"Tsu-kun!" Mom cheers, appearing in the doorway, sly smirk on her face. She already has the camera up to her face, and her finger on the shutter. "Strike a pose!"

"Mom!"

—❀—

In the end, he doesn't tell her.

"Ah, Iemitsu-dear will be so proud of you, Tsu-kun!" Mom says, looking at the photos she has captured fondly. She's already told him that she plans on hanging them in her album photos.

"Ah, um, about that, Mom."

"Hmm?" She doesn't look up from the camera. He's sure she's looking at his gobsmacked face in the first photo she took. Or maybe it's the one where she asked him to act suave, and he ended up blushing so much he matched the pink of the outfit.

"I don't want you to tell Dad."

"Why not?" She looks and sounds genuinely confused.

So far, no matter how he felt about his father, Tsuna has never opposed to her sending him pictures of him, or informing him about his grades (his _slipping_ grades). He has never wanted to get in the way of her or his Dad's happiness, but...

"I," he says, lost for words. "I just..." He tries to stammer out some excuse, but nothing comes out.

Mom smiles gently, though. "I get it. You want to show him yourself, hm?"

Not exactly it, but yeah. If Dad were here, maybe Tsuna would show him. If Dad cared enough to come back home... "Yeah," he says, trying to put as much conviction behind the word as possible. "I just thought— well. It's just."

He looks down at his princelike outfit, all pink and cute, and finally decides on his excuse. "It's just, Dad is this big, strong construction worker, and I don't know how he'd feel about— I mean... I'm not—" he's not ashamed, per say, but pink and cute has always been associated with girls, and while there's nothing wrong with being a girl (or with pink and cuteness— he likes cute things: those massive balls of fluff called cats, the birds that sometimes perch themselves on his window, Kyoko-chan... the list goes on), but _he isn't a girl_. He isn't a girl, and as such, he knows how some people would react to him dressing up like that, and his father fits the type.

"Your father isn't like that," Mom says, eyes sad.

Tsuna is silent.

"But for the sake of your peace of mind," Mom continues, smiling gently. "I won't tell him."

"Mom..." Tsuna smiles back, and doesn't even protest when she hugs him again. "Thanks."

There's a moment of silence, with only the ruffling of clothes. Tsuna suddenly realizes that he can still hear the swishing sound of Momo's tail.

"Now," Mom says, after he reluctantly pulls away. "Would my little prince like some Hamburger Steak for dinner?"

—❀—

For a few days, things are calm— or as calm as they can be, when you have an alien creature following you around everywhere. Tsuna has lost count of how many times his maths teacher has accused him of bring his cat to school.

The only reprieve is the look on said teacher's face when he opens Tsuna's bag, only to see that there is absolutely nothing but schoolbooks inside. Tsuna has no idea how Momo is able to just disappear like that, but it only makes him like Momo more.

He's almost able to forget about just what he has agreed to do.

Fighting monsters.

It's still hard to wrap his head around it.

He's probably gonna die soon from fighting magical monsters, and yet his classmates still call him Dame-Tsuna, his grades continue to drop, and the chihuahua of his neighborhood still continues to chase him around. Tsuna feels as if the world is about to end, and only he knows.

Life continues on as usual.

It's almost enough to give him hope.

 _Keyword: almost._

Because Momo is still here, a constant presence at his side, unforgettable even in its silence. Often times, during class, or even in the evening when he's trying to sleep, he can feel its heavy gaze on him. He never knows how to react to that, and Momo never even mentions it.

Because Momo is still here, and the world is still so deformed. Nothing makes sense: everything he's learned until now, it's all put into perspective now. Magic exists, somewhere out there, it exists, in the form of a tightly curled mass of fur in his schoolbag, in the form of a choker around his neck.

He has some hope, that things will turn out alright, that both he and his mother (and maybe the rest of the world too) will continue to live on peacefully, one day, once this whole mess has been dealt with, but— this whole mess has to be dealt with by _him_ : him, who's eleven and can't go down the stairs without tripping twice, him, who has the world on his shoulders.

The hope is almost fully submerged by the crushing anxiety.

If anyone notices that there's anything wrong with Tsuna, then they don't say it.

After all, why would they? His classmates and teachers hold no love for him, and his mother, well— she loves him, and he loves her back, but she tends to be a bit oblivious to how people really feel. She seems to think that Tsuna's recent behavior comes from a lack of calcium.

Yeah. Thanks, Mom.

He wishes it were a lack of calcium.

"Stop whining," Momo tells him, one Sunday afternoon. "It won't help you."

"Yeah, well," Tsuna stammers. "Not whining won't help me either."

Momo has no answers to that. Instead, it says: "I believe that the first Stray Heart may arrive very soon. You may wish to prepare yourself."

"What?!" Tsuna yelps, rolling off the bed with a loud _thud_ in his haste to sit up. He scrambles up. "Why didn't you tell me? What do I do? Oh no, am I gonna have to fight so soon? I still don't have any weapons, do I have to fight with my fists? And, and— you know, when I transformed that one time, I didn't really feel stronger or anything, so are you sure it really—"

"Cease."

Tsuna stops talking.

"If you transform here, someone may eventually link you with the persona associated with your transformed self — we may need to find a name for that persona, too — so I suggest transforming in a remote location, one people would not be able to track back to you. As for your fighting style, you may need to figure it out yourself. I suggest experimenting a bit in the beginning. However, my predictions indicate that you would be more suitable for hand-to-hand fighting. Of course, you might need to adapt your fighting style to the situation at hand."

Tsuna bites his lip, crossing his arms to hide his trembling hands. There's no real reason to do that, since Momo has obviously noticed already.

"So," he says after a moment. "I need to find some place to transform, and then, then— stumble my way into a fight, and fight for my life while also trying to figure out _how_ to fight." He laughs. "I'm gonna die."

"You will if you go with that mindset," Momo says, somewhat jokingly. "Do not worry, Tsunayoshi. Fighting instincts and that terrific intuition of yours will no doubt allow you to fight and defeat your enemy." It then smiles, and, _get this_ , this has got to be the most horrifying sight ever known to mankind. Momo's cuteness has no par on its horror. "Furthermore, if you were to be on the brink of death, your — as they say — Dying Will would allow you to defeat your enemy in one strike."

"On the brink of death," Tsuna whispers, hysterical.

"Let's hope it does not come to that."

Tsuna breaks down, and laughs.

—❀—

After some more minutes spent crying over his fate, Tsuna accepts to look around town for a location wherein he would be able to transform freely, without the worry of someone finding him.

"Stray Hearts usually appear in populated areas," Momo says. "Easier to be miserable when there are other people to cause it. I suggest finding a location near the middle of town."

"Maybe a public bathroom?" he mutters, well aware he looks crazy to anyone who catches him talking to his schoolbag. Maybe he should just take his phone out and pretend he's on a call...

"Check for cameras," Momo reminds. "Your other persona's facial and body features are indistinguishable for anyone who doesn't already know who you are, but anyone would be able to link you to your persona if they notice that the one who comes out after you enter is your persona."

And here he was hoping for a simple solution.

"What about some woods?" He thinks for a second, and makes a face. "Why would there be woods in the middle of town? Stupid..."

"Are you able to spot any abandoned buildings?"

Abandoned buildings in the middle of town? Well... Maybe there aren't any abandoned buildings, but there certainly are dark and unsavory back alleys. He can try those. He voices the thought to Momo.

It is silent for a moment, then says: "Perhaps that is a viable temporary solution. I do not recommend using this method for long, however. I also suggest to be especially cautious. Back alleys are not often uninhabited."

"Well," Tsuna mutters sulkily, "If you've got a better solution, just say it."

Momo doesn't answer.

Eventually, Tsuna does find a little corner in between buildings that he think would be suitable. It's in between a coffee shop and a library, but it doesn't seem to be used for anything other than garbage cans, and there are no doors that give on it. There is one or two windows, but going by the spider webs on hanging off, they haven't been used in quite some time.

He puts his bag on the ground, and Momo jumps out. It gives an appraising look at the alley.

"It will do," it says.

Tsuna doesn't even try to hold back his sigh of relief. "So, um, when do you think I will have to transform?"

"In a few hours, at the latest."

He gulps. His hands are trembling again—or maybe they just haven't stopped trembling since Momo first announced this.

"And, and— what do I do?"

Momo looks at him. Its beady, red eyes are unsympathetic. Tsuna really does wonder if it is capable of human emotions.

"You fight."

Yeah, okay, _thanks._ "But _how_?"

"Don't worry. It will come naturally. I have made sure of that."

He chokes on a little laugh. "Uh, yeah, and how have you made sure of that, exactly?"

Momo looks at him like he's dumb. "Magic." Huh. Maybe Momo does have a right to look at him like that.

Tsuna's legs are trembling too much. He collapses on the dirty ground. Mom is gonna scold him for staining his pants.

"I'm scared," he says.

Momo, definitely incapable of human emotions, doesn't answer.

"What if I die?"

"You won't."

"You don't know that. Why did I agree to this? Mom is gonna cry so much if I die."

"Your mother will perish, along with the rest of humanity, if you die."

 _Thanks_ , you useless vermin.

"You know," he says, tears already spilling over his cheeks. His nose is running. Gross. "I really don't mind school that much, after all."

—❀—

It comes much too soon, in his opinion. He's just beginning to wipe his tear-stained cheeks when Momo's head snaps up.

"It's here," the creature tells him.

Tsuna gasps. "Already?!" but even as he says it, he can hear some terrified screams not far away.

"Yes. Transform, now."

He scrambles to his feet, putting a hand over his choker. No time for fear now. He has to save those people, he has to fight those monsters. He has to.

"I..."

"Tsunayoshi." Momo's voice is a warning. If Tsuna doesn't get his act together now... these people screaming for help...

He takes in a deep breath, and presses the flower in the middle of the choker.

His transformation is 'shadowed' by a flash of light and the faintest notes of a melody. It might look like it takes a second for any outsider, but for Tsuna, it feels like a lifetime.

He can feel it, an unknown energy coursing down his veins, gathering in the middle of his chest. It spreads along the rest of his limbs in beat with his heart. The casual clothes he has been wearing until now disintegrate, to go who-knows-where, replaced by the gentle fabric of his— well, he supposes it's his fighting uniform, now.

"Alright," he says when it's finished, the last notes of the melody still hanging in the air. "I've got this."

He _don't_ got this.

"I've got this."

With Momo perched on his shoulder, Tsuna rushes toward where the screams are coming from. There already are people on the streets, some looking around with confused faces, others going toward the screams, and some running away from the screams.

"Jump!" Momo says.

"Jump?!" Tsuna repeats, but then decides that his life is already strange enough, so he better try this already.

He jumps, and screams when he _flies_ above the buildings around him.

" _Hiiiiiiiiiie_ _—_ _!_ What is happeniiiing—?" Tsuna cries.

"Enhanced abilities," Momo reminds him, undisturbed. "Get ready for the landing!"

Tsuna screams, and stumbles onto the top of a building. He slams to a stop, falling to his knees. "What the hell— _what was that?_ "

"Hurry. That Stray Heart won't be waiting for you to recuperate."

"Right." He stumbles to his feet, and begins running again. It must be the adrenaline running through his blood that's helping him do that, because he's 100% sure he would never be able to do it normally.

He runs to the edge of the rooftop, then looks around. He can see some dust flying from where the screams came from, so he guesses the Stray is there.

"Jump," Momo says, again. "Blossom, jump!"

 _Blossom?_ Tsuna questions, but takes a deep breath nonetheless. He takes a few steps back, looks at the gap between the two buildings, and reminds himself to the height and length of the jump he just took before.

He jumps.

He underestimates his abilities though, and ends up flying over the buildings once more. His scream of fright must be merged with the other screams, because no one even glances up to see the kid flying through the sky. Tsuna feels like sobbing.

In two more jumps, they arrive to where the cloud of dust has begun to spread. He's just beginning to hear the screams tapper off now, and he's seen more than one group of people run away from the Stray.

He stops on top of a building, and waits until the dust settle to get a glimpse of the Stray he'll have to fight.

When he sees it, Tsuna can't cut off his gasp of surprise.

Standing at an impressive height of ten meters, a massive white cat is swinging at the neighboring buildings with claws red like blood, looming over most if not all the buildings around. It has a cute pink truffle, and is wearing a rather fancy silk pink collar, with a golden bell. Its eyes are pink, and they pinpoint onto Tsuna in one instant.

He'll have to fight _that_?!

Its mouth opens in a snarl, but another voice comes through. "A magician," the voice says, even when the cat's mouth closes again—or rather, it doesn't say... it's more like the voice appears in Tsuna's mind. The Stray's long tail swings, as if it were nothing but an angry cat — but the tail smashes into a few buildings along the way, ruining the illusion.

"I don't remember Stray Hearts being able to take on animal forms," Momo says conversationally.

"You said the first Strays are always the weakest!" Tsuna manages to choke out.

"Indeed."

" _This_ is weak?!"

"Indeed."

Tsuna whimpers.

The Stray doesn't wait for Tsuna to gather his wits. It slashes at the building where Tsuna is, and thank magic for those sudden reflexes, because he's able to jump off in time. He fails his landing though, and finds himself facedown on the ground.

The Stray's incorporeal voice laughs. " _This_ is the new magician? Don't make me laugh, this is nothing but a lost kid! Did that damned guardian pick you off the street?"

Tsuna scrambles to his feet, but finds himself pinned under the Stray's paw, head dangerously close to one of those blood-red claws. He stares up at the Stray, trembling and shaking.

"Aww, are you scared?" it taunts, cat face looming over him, big pink eyes staring down at him. He can feel puffs of air coming out of its pink cat nose. "Well, that's too bad! I was scared, too, yet no one—"

"Blossom!" Momo cuts in, though it's nowhere in sight. "I know you're scared, but please remember what is at stake."

"That's not reassuring at all!" Tsuna manages to say, choking over his sobs, but the words hit him.

He's gonna die, sure, but everyone will die with him (at least, according to the pink alien creature that has forced this whole thing on him), and even if there's a chance that it might not be true, he... he doesn't want to risk that.

"Blossom..." Momo says. "Remember your mother."

If he lets this Stray rampage the town as it pleases, then his mother— Mom will— "Mom," Tsuna sobs, the pressure in his chest unfurling. "I don't want to die."

"Do you want _her_ to die?"

"Aah, will you shut up?!" the Stray cuts in, pressing down more heavily with its paw. "I should just kill you and be done with it!"

"Then why don't you do it?" Momo taunts.

"I want to have some fun first," the Stray brags. "I'm the first Stray, yet I was able to capture the magician. It has to mean something, right?"

Tsuna stays silent.

"Hey... answer me. It's no fun if you don't answer," the Stray says.

"I don't want to be hurt... but Mom... if I give up now, Mom will..."

"Huh? What are you muttering about?" Tsuna begins struggling against the hold the Stray has on him. The Stray laughs, undisturbed. "You really think you'll be able to get out like tha—" Tsuna gathers all his strength and— _!_ " _gh!_ "

The Stray jumps away, hissing.

Tsuna's fist, outstretched as it is, glitters with pink sparkles. It would look ridiculous, if that same fist hadn't just punch through the Stray's paw as if it were made of melted butter. There's no blood on his fist, and the hole he just punched through has already reformed, but the Stray still looks surprised.

He takes a moment to catch his breath, then jumps to his feet, positioning himself in what might be a fighting stance—maybe a boxing stance, even.

"So you're not defenseless, after all."

Tsuna doesn't answer. "Momo, how can I defeat the Stray?"

"There should be a mark that indicates where its Heart is," Momo informs, and Tsuna finally notices that it's perched on a pile of rubble. "Hit that place, and the Stray will collapse."

"And what does the mark look like?"

"A heart."

Figures. A heart for a Heart. He's guessing it's pink, too?

"Hey!" the Stray explodes, slashing at Tsuna, who's barely able to jump away in time. "Don't ignore me!" It jumps after Tsuna, forcing him to back away. They continue on this chase for a while.

It's fine for a moment, but while it's quite long, the street isn't endless. If he continues to dodge like that without ever going on the offensive, Tsuna will just back himself into a corner. At the Stray's next jump, he ducks, and runs back toward their starting point. The Stray lets out a frustrated growl.

"Hey!" Tsuna calls over his shoulder, "what's your name?"

The Stray laughs. It's sounding more and more like a child throwing a tantrum, and less and less like a monster out to kill everyone. "I am the great Welcoming Cat!"

"Like the Fortune Cat, you mean?"

"No! I welcome!"

"Yeah," Tsuna says, out of breath, grin on his face, "like the Fortune Cat."

The Welcoming Cat lets out a loud growl, and leaps at Tsuna headfirst. Tsuna jumps over it, and (suddenly gaining acrobatic skills), makes a point of driving his fist down onto the Welcoming Cat's skull.

It yowls, and, unable to slow down, crashes into a building.

Tsuna winces, but better a building than him.

He doesn't move to put in another punch, preferring to catch his breath and scrutinize the Welcoming Cat for any sign of a heart. "Who do you welcome, anyway? 'Cause, I mean, you're not acting very welcoming right now."

It takes a moment for the Welcoming Cat to begin moving again. It whirls around, hissing and growling. "You... pathetic... human..."

Oops.

"I guess we won't be having any more conversation, huh?" Tsuna laughs sheepishly, shoulders drawing back in preparation for jumping away.

"Oh. No, no," its voice is silky, now, thinly veiled anger in its voice. "Continue." The Cat approaches and Tsuna isn't sure whether he's supposed to flee or not, so he stays rooted to the spot. "We're all friends here anyway, aren't we?"

Without any more warning, the Cat slashes its claws again, and Tsuna doesn't have the time to dodge it completely. His uniform pays the price, and he's quite sure his stomach will be hurting for the next hundred of years, but at least he's alive.

He draws back his fists, jumping away twice, but he's hit again. "Guh...!" He's propelled through something hard — _a wall?!_ — an immense, blinding pain coursing from his shoulderblades to the small of his back. Falling onto his knees, Tsuna pants for breath, hand clutching his chest. The Welcoming Cat has already jumped back, away from him.

"Blossom," Momo cuts in, jumping into view, "you need to activate your weapon!"

"Activate?" he repeats, still panting for breath. Before the Welcoming Cat can leap onto him again, he jumps off to the side. Momo follows his example. "And — _guh_ — how do I do that exactly?"

"Since you're fighting with your fists, you'll have to concentrate your magic into your fists!"

"Thanks for the advice!" Tsuna says, just a _tiny_ bit sarcastic. "How do I—" the Welcoming Cat slaps him aside with a clawed paw, " _gah!_ "

"Stop ignoring me!" the Cat cries, like a child on a tantrum. "And you, _guardian,_ " the word is said with spite, "if you don't shut up—"

Momo cuts in. "You should be able to feel it in the choker! Just envision dragging that energy toward your hands!"

Easier said than done.

Still, Tsuna tries. Securing himself on top of a building (hey, he's really getting a hang of this jumping thing!), Tsuna closes his eyes for a second.

He can feel a thrum at the level of his neck, warm and pulsing like a heartbeat. Following Momo's advice, he tries to _drag_ it, down, toward his arms. It follows his lead easily, gliding down his veins and bones as if it were— water, it's not fast enough, it's... just slow and sweet enough to resemble honey. He envisions it coating his fists, enveloping his wrists and fingers thickly.

"Blossom!"

His eyes snap open just as the Cat looms over him, claws a centimeter away from his face.

 _Clang!_

The Cat's claws are ripped off from the shock.

There's a thick, bulging metal over his fists now, as if he had taken a giant robot's fists and put them over his hands. He can't feel his fingers inside, it's as if this entire metal fist has _become_ his hand. He tries to unclench his hand, and the metal fist follows.

Woa.

The Cat yowls as it staggers backwards.

"Congratulations, contractor," Momo says, jumping into view once more. "You have unlocked your first weapon."

Tsuna nods, face grim as he stares down the yowling Cat. "Thank you for the help, Momo." He readies his fists. "I'll be finishing this now."

The Cat hisses, favoring the paws that still have all their claws. The one without claws isn't bleeding, per say, but there's a glittery pink liquid coming out. Is it blood or not? Why would blood be glittery pink? "You are acting sure of yourself, for someone who was sobbing minutes ago," the Cat says.

"You are acting sure of yourself, for someone who was yowling in pain seconds ago," Tsuna retorts, then jumps up, far above the Cat.

"Miscalculated?" it asks, laughingly.

Tsuna drives down, fist first. The Cat jumps away, but it has the intended effect. From the force of both Tsuna's weight and the power he puts behind his punch, the ground folds, and rubble flies.

When he glances up, the Cat is looking at him with wide eyes, tail and fur rising up in fear. "Y-you..."

"Momo," Tsuna calls, readying his fists once more. "Do you know where that mark is?"

"Considering we haven't been able to see it yet, I would say it is under. Perhaps on the belly," Momo informs dutifully, tail waging.

"Got it." With that in mind, Tsuna runs at the Stray, drawing his fist back.

The Cat jumps away, but Tsuna doesn't bother stopping himself in his movements, and instead just slams his fist into the ground. The ground folds, and he drags his fist toward the Cat, the ground following his move. As a result, the ground under the Stray shakes and collapses.

The Stray tries to flee, but Tsuna catches it on the other side, slamming a fist down before it can do anything beside prepare itself for a jump. The Stray looks like it's about to pass out from fear.

They stop moving a moment.

"You really aren't joking around anymore," the Cat says, trying to a joking tone. The empty holes where its claws should be is still bleeding out glitter and pink, and now there's some pink staining the white fur.

Tsuna doesn't answer. He still remembers sobbing his heart out while stuck under its paw. The Cat hadn't been joking around either, then. It had been cruel. Tsuna won't be. He just wants to go home.

"Don't worry," he reassures instead, only mildly appreciating the utter horror on the Cat's face. "I will make this quick."

He readies himself for another punch, pulling his hand back, and leaps at the Cat. It's frozen — in fear? — and Tsuna isn't going to look a gift-horse in the mouth. The punch sends the Stray flying, and it slams into the ground, rolling over itself a few times before it stops.

How anticlimactic.

Fallen on its side, the Welcoming Cat looks almost dead. Its eyes are closed, and its pink truffle isn't twitching in anger anymore. The tail isn't waging. There's a pink heart on its belly.

"You need to go inside," Momo says, landing at Tsuna's side — he wonders where it's been this whole time.

"Inside?" Tsuna says, not even blinking at the suggestion. He feels sleepy. "Why?"

"In order to recuperate a Heart that isn't yours, you need to tear it out."

"...I'm not gonna kill anybody."

"I'm not talking about killing whoever this is," Momo says, little paws tapping as it approaches the Welcoming Cat. "You will just borrow this Heart, and place a temporary one until both the human and the Heart have healed."

Tsuna looks at the Welcoming Cat, almost deathly still. He doesn't really feel like helping out someone who almost killed him, but at the same time, he knows that the violence he has been put under was born out of a mix of misery and magic. He can't blame the Welcoming Cat for this. He can't.

"...Let's get this over with."

Without a word, Momo taps the heart-shaped pink fur pattern on the Welcoming Cat's belly, and a door appears just a few steps away from it.

The door is, predictably, pink, and there's a jewel floating above it. It's a translucent white, round ball, with a pink center. It's pretty, to say the least, but still pink. Why is everything pink?

"After you," Momo says, and the door opens.

"Since when can you make doors appear out of nowhere?" Tsuna questions, but enters the door without protest.

The door gives into a traditional Japanese house's garden. Figures. Magic.

There's a girl who must be one or two years younger than him sitting on the porch, with a white cat on her lap. Even though Tsuna's outfit sparkles and is bright pink, she doesn't seem to notice him.

"What do you think, Missy?" she says quietly, as Tsuna gathers the courage to sit down next to her. "I don't know what to do."

"Hello?" Tsuna calls, or at least, he tries to, but his voice comes out airy and floats away. He slams his mouth shut after that.

"She cannot hear you," Momo helpfully says. "This is a memory."

 _Thanks_ , you useless vermin, Tsuna once again thinks. Maybe you could warn me _a little_ earlier next time.

"Mom says I'm too sick to go to school," the girl says, gently brushing her hand on her cat's head. It purrs comfortably. "But I don't want to stay here. It's so lonely."

 _I'm here_ , says another voice. It's the Welcoming Cat's voice — except... it's more calm, content, even. _I will always be here for you._

The girl doesn't hear. Her bottom lip is trembling, and she sniffles a few times. "If I wasn't like this..."

 _Don't cry,_ Welcoming Cat says. _Please don't cry._

"Is this... the Welcoming Cat's memory?" Tsuna questions.

"Indeed."

He looks at the cat licking the girl's fingers. "Then... this cat... it's the Welcoming Cat?"

"Yes. It appears its name is Missy."

Tsuna continues to observe the tiny white cat, licking her master's fingers, purring as loud as her little body can. The girl laughs, delighted. "Oh, Missy... what would I do without you?"

They stay silent for a little while longer, listening to the girl's laughter and the cat's purring.

"What do we do?" he eventually asks.

"We need to convince the Cat that it needs to heal."

 _You won't,_ Missy cuts in.

"Ah," Tsuna yelps, looking around for where the voice is coming from. "You could hear us?"

 _I don't want to go back,_ Missy says, ignoring him. If I become the strongest, then Lizzie won't have to cry anymore. I can protect her.

"Protect her from what?"

 _From the pain, from the loneliness. That kind of misery that engulfs her, that makes her cry for days on end. From the quiet sobs that come after her parents visit. She's mine, and I love her, but I can't protect her when I'm this weak._

...huh? Wait...

 _That's why I need to get stronger. I need to get stronger and stronger and stronger, until I'm able to protect her from anything and anyone, until she's able to depend on me._

This...

"This reasoning is so dumb," Tsuna blurts out.

 _...what._

"The kind of strong you're searching for," Tsuna says slowly, as if talking to one of those dumb adults that look down on kids. "It's physical, right? And Lizzie's pain isn't physical."

Both Momo and the Cat look at him, silent.

He falters for a moment, but gathers his courage. "The kind of strength you're talking about, it's the strength that a Stray Heart has, right? But that's physical strength, and no matter how strong and powerful you are, it won't help Lizzie, because Lizzie's pain is... it's located at her heart.

"That's why... that's why what you're trying to do— it won't help her. What Lizzie needs is friends and company, right? And if you become a Stray, then— a Stray Heart, I mean— then you'll have to abandon her, because Stray Hearts hurt humans, don't they? Because Stray Hearts are so miserable and angry, that they are unable of compassion or empathy, and so they hurt others needlessly, without even meaning to."

 _I WOULD NEVER HURT_ _—_

" _You already have!_ " Tsuna cries out, slamming his hands on the porch. The wood dissipates for a split second, and the memory wavers. "What if there was one of Lizzie's friends in that group of people you hurt! What if Lizzie had decided to take a stroll, and had been caught up in your attack! What if Lizzie's parents had been— what if Lizzie has just an _ounce_ of empathy, and the fact—the _knowledge_ that someone was hurt, hurts her in turn?"

Missy doesn't answer.

"What if she's scared?" he continues, on a calmer tone. "How will she react, learning about magic?" He shakes his head: "How would she react, knowing that her beloved companion, that _you_ had hurt someone? If she knew that you had intended to kill someone..."

 _I... don't want Lizzie to suffer._

"I don't want her to either. I'm sure she's a very nice girl, and is very much deserving of your love and admiration, but... Lizzie's loneliness, it won't be solved by bringing down buildings and destroying the town Lizzie lives in."

 _...what should I do?_

In this memory world, Lizzie is crying. Tsuna used to cry like that, too.

"Stay with her," Tsuna offers. "I can't promise you that she will be completely healed one day, or that she will make a thousand friends, but..."

He thinks about his birthday parties, back then, when his whole class was invited but no one came. He thinks about going to school with anxiety coursing through his veins, and coming back with bruises on his cheeks. He thinks about class projects, about no one wanting him in their teams. He thinks about Dame-Tsuna.

He thinks about Mom.

"I think, as long as she has you by her side, she'll be fine." As long as he has Mom... "Maybe," _maybe,_ "one day, she'll gather her courage, and she'll get up and go outside. She'll make friends, and she'll be happy. Don't you want to be by her side when it happens?"

 _I... I do._

"Then, go."

 _I want to go home._

The memory wavers once more, before disappearing. The world becomes blank, with only Tsuna, Momo, and Missy staying.

 _I want to go see Lizzie._

With that last cry, Missy's form wavers too, and shatters. The shards fold themselves into the same Jewel as the one that had been floating above the door, earlier.

 _To think the magician would be so young,_ Missy says, _so miserable. Your heart is in just as much pain as Lizzie's, isn't it? You are the magician, but you would be fit to be a Stray just as I am._

Tsuna stops to consider it.

"Maybe," he allows, and picks up the Heart Jewel.

 _Come visit us sometime,_ is the last thing Missy says, before the Jewel is absorbed into Tsuna's choker.

—❀—

They stumble their way out of Missy's memory world, with Tsuna clutching a hand over his chest. He feels tired, and the haze that had allowed him to fight without remorse or a second thought has dissipated. In fact, he wants to sleep for the next century or so.

"Blossom," Momo cuts in, "there appears to be an unknown situation taking place."

"Huh?" Tsuna glances up to see that there is a bunch of people gaping at them. Some have their phones out, filming the whole thing.

"Um, Momo," he calls faintly, gulping when he sights yet another camera pointed at his face. The road and buildings around him are heavily damaged, if not fallen into ruins. "Is that supposed to happen?"

Momo stays silent for a moment. "Blossom, get out of here. There is no protocol in place for this kind of situation."

Tsuna whimpers, but jumps away. He has to find some place to transform back, now.

—❀—

When he gets back home, his mother is in the kitchen. Her hands are in the sink, a half-cleaned plate in her hands, but she's not paying attention to it. Instead, she's staring at this old radio, a gift from Iemitsu, that she keeps only for sentimental value and because she likes to listen to music while cooking.

Tsuna pauses in the hallway.

"Now," the radio host, a rather charismatic man by the name of Hitoshi, is saying, voice shaking just minutely, "it is a bit hard to believe, but listen for just a moment. Just this afternoon, the inhabitants of Namimori town were stunned to witness what we can effectively call a combat between a magical girl and a monster. No, I am _not_ kidding. Go check it out for yourself if you don't believe me. Just search for the 'Namimori magical girl fight' on the net. Guys, I don't know if it's real, but let me tell you that: if it isn't real, then it's one of the most well-made performance I've ever seen."

...Huh?

What?

He knew, of course he knew, that it would be noticed by people, and he had seen the cameras pointed at his face, but... it just hit him.

People will know.

People _know_.

They'll know that magic exists, and— and Tsuna's gonna get arrested, because this fight caused a lot of damage (mainly destroyed buildings, thank God, no lives were lost, but), he's definitely getting arrested. What if people think he was the one who summoned that monster? What if people decide to bring back witch hunts, and the authorities themselves decide that Tsuna deserves to be burned alive?

Oh no.

No n _o no no_ —

What is he going to do?

What is he supposed to do?

He doesn't mind saving the world (he could do without, but), but, but, but— he doesn't want people to _know_. Of course, a part of him wants to show off, but the other part is so deathly afraid of what will come.

He's placed a target on his back. If someone finds out his identity... if someone manages to track Blossom back to him...

What will happen to them? To him? To Mom?

"Oh, Tsu-kun, you're home already?" Mom says, finally noticing him in the doorway, but Tsuna is already running up to his room.

He almost falls a few times, almost tripping over the steps, and finally does trip when he reaches the top. He doesn't even pause to assess the damage, and just rushes to the bathroom.

His knees hurt, but it's nothing compared to the sick in his throat, the tightness in his chest.

"Tsu-kun?" comes his mother's distant voice.

She sounds worried.

Just how much more worried would she sound, if she knew it was him, right now, who had just killed a monster out of this world, for the sake of a lonely girl and her cat? Just how much more worried would she sound, if she knew he had almost died, twenty minutes ago, and that now people were wondering if it was even real?

His mother, who loves him and who he loves back. His mother, for whom he will accept to fight monsters, for whom he would/will die. His mother, who is and has always been more important than the rest of the world.

His mother, who worried over the scrapes and the bumps on Tsuna's knees, who gave him lion band-aids and kissed his wounds and hurts away.

If she knew that he was supposed to save the world...

"Tsu-kun! Are you alright?"

Tsuna throws up.

—❀—

Dinner that evening is quite a sad affair.

Tsuna can't take his eyes off his plate, but he also can't eat more than a single bite, anxiety-induced nausea making his stomach turn and toss endlessly. He can feel Mom's gaze on him.

The radio has been put away, and Tsuna has already asked his mother not to turn on the TV. He doesn't want to think about what happened, about what will happen. What if someone finds out it's him?

He wonders just how panicked people are, to suddenly find out magic exists. He wonders how the governments will react.

"Tsu-kun..."

He glances up. Mom is frowning, and it's an odd sight, considering she is usually oblivious to his mood changes. She must still remember rubbing her hand on his back as he was puking his guts out. She must still see the bruises on his face, the scratches on his skin.

Maybe she thinks it's bullying.

"Sorry, Mom," he eventually manages to say. "It's just— I, I'm not very hungry, that's all."

"Do you feel sick?" she frets, already standing up to stand next to him. She lays a conforting hand on his shoulder, turning him around to face her. She feels his forehead for a temperature. "You don't seem to have a fever..."

"I just, I think I'm gonna go to bed," Tsuna says, standing up abruptly. It's only 7:30, but he really doesn't feel like doing anything at all.

"Alright," Mom allows. "But if you start to feel worse—"

"I'll warn you."

Mom nods, and it's at this moment that the landline begins ringing. She hurries to catch the call, while Tsuna begins going up the stairs.

"Iemitsu?"

Tsuna stops dead in his tracks.

"Huh? Yes, we're alright. Well, Tsu-kun is feeling a bit sick but—" A pause. "What? No, no, I heard about it on the radio, but I didn't see anything myself. It wasn't anywhere close to the house."

Tsuna goes down a few stairs, just enough to be able to glimpse at his mother's expression.

She's frowning. "Iemitsu, dear, what are you—?" Dad says something that makes her glance up, and now she's looking at Tsuna. Her frown deepens. "Tsu-kun," she calls, beckoning him with a hand, "could you come here for a minute? Your father wants to talk to you."

Tsuna's heart skips a beat.

That's right, he forgot but... while Mom is rather oblivious to things and would most likely take some time to figure out that Blossom is Tsuna, his father is nothing of the sort. He tends to act goofy, yes, but he's not oblivious to what happens around them.

He forces himself to gulp down his fear, and walks to the landline. Mom hands him the phone.

"...hello?" he calls timidly.

"Tuna-fishy!" his father's boisterous voice answers. He sounds a bit out of breath. "How are you doing? Are you alright? Were you hurt? They say there weren't any victims, but still... You weren't close to that monster, were you?"

"I, uh—" So... does that mean his father doesn't know, either? "No, I'm alright."

There's a moment of silence. To think his father would call for Blossom, but not for Tsuna... He can understand Iemitsu would worry, but still...

"Tsuna..." his father says once more. "Are you absolutely certain you are alright? Did anything strange happen to you?"

"I— no?" He tries for confused. "I don't understand. You mean the— the creature fight? I mean, I saw it, but... I wasn't really hurt."

"Not at all? Not even a little bit?"

He thinks about the slash marks on his uniform, about being propelled through a wall, about the haze that had taken over him while fighting. He thinks about Lizzie's tears, about puking nothing but stomach acid. "Some rubble hit me," he eventually admits, which isn't a lie, but isn't the complete truth either. "But it's okay, it doesn't really hurt."

His father gives another pregnant pause, then sighs. "Alright. Tsuna, be careful, alright? We don't know what those monsters can do, and their sudden apparition can't say anything good."

Is Blossom included in the 'monsters' lot?

"Yeah," he says, his voice sounding like it's miles away. "Okay."

—❀—


	2. Don't Give Up!

**AN:** I recommend you check out the ao3 version (posted under the username AmaEru), simply because I messed up while doing the HTML, and this (the ffnet version) is the old file. Thus, there are some parts I corrected in the ao3 version that haven't been corrected here. Nothing major, I believe, but still some little bits.

What's more, with the ao3 version, you'll see why it takes me so long to edit! HTML is a pain and I (on some level) regret ever involving myself in it.

—❀—

Nowadays, Tsuna can't even pick up a comic book for longer than five seconds.

 _I should be doing something about the Strays,_ he thinks every time. He should be fighting those Strays, or maybe training. But he doesn't, and the guilt of not doing it makes him unable to do anything else. Even just trying to sleep is too much. The guilt is too much.

Meanwhile, the news keep replaying the fight.

He feels sick just thinking about it.

He hasn't seen the footage, yet, but... There's talk of apprehending whoever was responsible, of tensions between the nations. Some accuse Japan of hiding this magic, some accuse Japan of setting this up. Namimori is a bad place to live in, right now. Hibari Kyoya-san is at every street corner. Some are wondering why he wasn't here, when the attack came.

Logically, Tsuna knows it's not _his_ fault, but... he wishes there was a way to solve the situation.

Momo tries to reassure him, by saying that the next attack most probably won't be in Japan, and that it will lift off the suspicions about Namimori. But Tsuna knows better. The first Stray appeared in Namimori, so people will (and already do) suspect that this whole mess came from Namimori.

They're not entirely wrong. After all, Tsuna comes from Namimori, and Momo first appeared in Namimori. This has to mean something. Maybe all of this is his fault.

 _Did I attract it here?_ is what Tsuna wants to ask. _Was it my fault it appeared? Does my presence contribute in the least in where the next Stray will appear?_

In truth, there's a lot Tsuna wants to ask.

 _Why me? Why did I sign the Contract? When did I sign it? Why can't I remember? You said only I was suitable, but why is it only me? Why did you call me Blossom? How come magic exists? How come no one has ever noticed that magic exists? How is magic able to make me this much stronger? What are these Stray Hearts made of? Why do I have to defeat them? Why can't human technology hurt them?_

 _Why do you try so hard to mimic human emotions?_

He wants to ask, but one glimpse at Momo makes him bite back his tongue. Momo on a good day is creepy, what with its never-changing expression and beady red eyes. On a bad day, Tsuna can't even bring himself to look at it for longer than a few seconds.

So instead of questioning any of it, Tsuna stays silent.

He waits.

—❀—

It's five days later when something finally happens.

Tsuna is coming home from school — wherein they did nothing but try to calm the excited and scared children, some having even been able to see the fight in person — when he's stopped in his tracks by a small mewing.

When he looks down, there's a little white cat rubbing against his leg. It mews at him, and he finally notices the silk pink ribbon around its neck. The golden bell jiggles.

"Missy?" he asks. The cat mews, and he crouches down to scratch her between the ears. "Hey there. How are you doing? I didn't expect to see you so soon." He has plans to meet and befriend Lizzie, somehow (because God knows how horrible his social skills are), but he never expected that Missy might come meet him first.

"The fact you are carrying its Heart is most likely why it approached you," Momo reveals, head poking out of his school bag.

"Is that so?" he murmurs, as Missy noses his fingers, truffle only slightly wet. He checks her collar, but there's only the golden bell, with no inscription in sight. He has no idea where Lizzy lives. He wasn't sure Lizzy lived in Namimori, in the first place, but considering Missy is here... it must mean both Lizzy and Missy live in Namimori. "Does she remember being the Welcoming Cat?"

"I doubt it does."

The tone of Momo's voice catches Tsuna off-guard, and he glances up to see Momo perched on a fence, looking down at Missy with what seems like disdain, if, you know, Momo was capable of human emotions. "What... what do you mean?"

"You are still holding the damaged Heart, which means that everything that happened while it was the Welcoming Cat has been erased from its memory."

Tsuna squints. "Alright... If you say so."

Momo looks at him with all the patience in the world. "Has it never occured to you that memories from a traumatic period tend to fade? Of course, the trauma may bring back flashbacks from what was truly traumatic, but the rest — the unimportant parts — fade from memory."

"Sounds fake, but ok," Tsuna says. What does Momo know about trauma? It seems to be unable to even project false emotions, let alone understand them. He's sure he's just been projecting his own emotions whenever he's gotten a glimpse of human emotion in Momo's behaviour.

He turns back to Missy, and gently loops his hands around her, lifting her up. She goes boneless without a single protest.

"H-how about we get you some food, hm?" he asks timidly. How far he's fallen, to stutter while talking to a cat... but Missy is gently purring, now. Her large eyes blink at him encouragingly, almost lovingly.

He thinks he's just fallen a little bit in love.

—❀—

"I've decided," Tsuna says, gently scratching the back of Missy's neck, as she gobbles down some fish — after Tsuna checked whether cats were able to eat it, of course. "I'm gonna become Lizzy's best friend."

"Why? Because it would allow you to hang onto Missy all the time?" Momo says, mercilessly tearing into his real intentions.

"Now, you're making it sound bad." He scowls, stopping his scratching for a second. But Missy's purring is so loud and warm that he goes back to it immediately. "More seriously though... I wonder how I'm supposed to befriend Lizzy..."

Momo goes silent for a moment. "...You plan on befriending her?"

"Yes. I thought it was obvious from the whole becoming her best friend part." He doesn't bother lifting his head up, because even with only Momo's fuzzy paws in his field of sight, he can feel its judgemental stare.

"You have no time for that."

Tsuna wheezes a cross between a laugh and a sob. "Oh, I assure you, I have plenty of time for that."

"You need to train."

"I have more free time than anything," he reminds. "In fact, since I put effort in neither school, house chores, nor hobbies, I do nothing but laze around all day. You've been living here for weeks already. Haven't you noticed yet?"

"You need to train."

"Yeah, I got that the first time."

Missy's finished eating her fish by now, and has begun licking Tsuna's fingers instead. Probably because he handled the fish barehanded. Her little tongue raps against his skin, but it's almost ticklish instead of irritating.

Momo's gone silent, but he doesn't spare a glance. Momo has been annoying ever since it first came here, and Tsuna has little to no patience left.

"I don't want to fight," he begins, using both hands to smooth back the fur on Missy's forehead. "But it doesn't mean I will just give up. If— I understand, you know. I understand that— if I don't do this, then... it'll be the end. For me, and for Mom. For people like Lizzy and Missy. For the people of Namimori Middle, and even for Hibari-san — he's the strongest person I know, and yet he would—... You've told me that I'm the only one that can do it, and I don't understand why or how it came to that, but— _I got it_. I understand. I'll do it. I'll train and I'll fight, and— I'll... do my best not to die."

Missy has padded her way into his lap by now, and though she's not licking at his fingers anymore, she's gone a step further and has curled into a tight, warm ball. The purring is a constant by now, and Tsuna breathes in sync.

"For someone like Missy, like the Welcoming Cat... —those 'Strays' I have to fight, they're just people who've been hurt, aren't they?"

"Yes."

"It'd be nice if I could help them, too," he admits. He thinks he'd be happy if someone helped him, too.

"You can."

Tsuna's cheeks are wet, but that's fine. He's always been a crybaby. He wipes his cheeks, and sniffles a little. "Sorry. I didn't mean to dump all that on you."

"If I can help you by playing the role of a therapist, then so be it."

He snorts, something tight and angry and hurt choking his throat. Figures. He should have expected that from Momo, and yet... "Yeah." Serves him right for being hopeful.

"I am still worried, however," Momo continues mercilessly. "You need to train, yet it is obvious that you cannot transform all the time, and neither of us know how to fight."

Sniffling back his last tears, Tsuna gives a small laugh. "I thought I handled myself pretty well, last time. Considering, I mean."

"Not good enough. You need to learn how to fight — in both forms. You should consider signing up to fighting classes. Perhaps martial arts, or perhaps learning how to use a certain type of weapon."

Not even responding to that first remark, Tsuna shrugs. He regrets it a moment later, when Missy mews at the sudden jostle. He carresses the back of her head in apology. At least Missy will never tell him he's " _not good enough_."

"You will have to ask your mother."

"Mom's— she's... well, she'll agree, I guess. Probably won't think anything of it." No matter how much she loves him, she _does_ tend to be a bit oblivious... which is probably why she never protests about Dad's behaviour. "I... I'm a bit worried about my dad," he admits, mind straying to the topic. "Mom probably won't notice anything, but my Dad's— he's— well... Even if he hasn't seen me in person for quite a well, Mom continues to send him photos of me and — well, it doesn't matter as much, but — as well as some checkups on me. Tells him about my day for me. Don't know why she does it, or why Dad has allowed it for so long since it's so obvious that he doesn't— I mean... I, are you _sure_ that magic will conceal me from the people who know me well?"

Momo doesn't seem troubled by his nervous ranting. Perhaps it's its silence, along with the continous purring coming out of Missy, that encourage Tsuna to continue rambling.

"I mean, not that he knows me well— couldn't possibly know me well, since, you know, we haven't seen each other in years, and I talk to him maybe once or twice every month. Sometimes it's even less, so... yeah, there's really no ground for him to really recognize me with one glance. But, with how crazy this situation's been, I don't doubt that most people will scrutinize it closely, if only to make sure they're the littlest bit safe, you see what I mean? So I thought, since Dad obviously loves Mom more than anything, and since the first Stray appeared in Namimori, he'll pay attention to the news and everything, so maybe— maybe he'll—"

"Tsuna."

He stops, breathing so fast and needily he thinks he might just pass out.

"Calm down."

Easier said than done. Still, Tsuna tries. He takes several deep breaths, holding the air in for a few seconds at every inhale. Inhale. Hold. Exhale. Missy's soft and sweet purring. Inhale. Hold. Exhale. Repeat.

"As I have explained before," Momo says slowly, little squeaky voice almost calming, "Blossom's facial and physical features are indistinguishable for anyone who doesn't already know."

"But you said people might figure it out!"

"If you make it obvious, yes."

He bites his lip. "Right," he says, just the littlest bit resentful. _Thanks_ , Momo, for being ever so reassuring. "A-and if it does happen... If people figure out I'm Blossom, what will happen then?"

"Who knows?" the creature says lightly, almost airily. "Maybe they will understand this is beyond them, and will let you continue on your task, maybe they will help you, or maybe they will arrest you. There is no way to know for sure." It pauses, to stare up at him with beady, unblinking eyes. "You understand why it is imperative that you keep your true identity hidden."

Why couldn't Momo have been as kind and soft as Missy? Tsuna curses whoever was in charge of picking Momo as a possible Magical Guardian. "Right," he says, instead of screeching in fury. "Right, you're right."

—❀—

It's a few more days before the next Stray arrives.

"Canada?!" Tsuna yelps. "How am I supposed to get there?!"

"Don't worry," Momo reassures, "I'll get you there in a flash. Please do transform, now."

He does as ordered. In a flash of light, he's transformed into his fighting uniform.

"Alright," Momo nods, approving. "Then, we shall be going, now."

A whirlwind of petals appears in the middle of Tsuna's room. There's a strange feeling, then, as if Tsuna was being pressed into a giant hand tightly. It feels like his blood pressure is rising, and a stiffling heat is spreading in his veins.

He blinks, and suddenly _there_ , is the Stray Heart, standing in the middle of a town square.

The Stray has the appearance of a young girl — whether a teenager or a young adult is difficult to say — wearing a cheerleader outfit, that covers the whole of her neck yet still manages to look revealing. The look is completed with gigantic pom poms that conceal the entirety of her hands. She is, of course, colored in shades of white and pink, with a few golden highlights here and there. Her skin is a dark pink, almost red. Her eyes, meanwhile, are a fluorescent yellow.

"Let me present myself! I am the Cheerleader, C-H-E-E-R-L-E-A-D-E-R! My motto is:" here, the Stray bumps her pom poms high in the air, "let's stay young forever! F-O-R-E-V-E-R!" the Cheerleader says, arms waving around wildly. When only terrified screams and startled exclamations answer her, she pouts and puts her hands on her waist. "C'mon! The party's just started, you know? Why are you all already acting so dully? That's just boring!"

Maybe because she's almost killed a few of them (and most likely injured more than one), or maybe because she's taller than a five stories building, and her stomping around is making large dents in the road below. Tsuna doesn't even try to answer her.

The police has already pooled around the borders of the town square. Most officers look scared out of their wits, yet they still attempt to get all civilians out of the way. There's one helicopter flying toward the square, with what look like a TV crew inside. There's a large camera pointed at the Cheerleader. He thinks he might see a TV presenter, too, but he's not sure.

In short, it's chaos.

For sure, they look more prepared than Namimori had been, but they probably never expect for this to happen so soon after the first attack. Tsuna can't blame them— he certainly didn't expect another Stray to appear so soon after the first one.

There are children screaming. Most are younger than him, but a few are his age. Some people are bleeding, limping toward the authorities. A few remain trapped under building rubble. The police looks strained, and by the sound of it, the next wave of ambulances won't arrive for some time yet. The TV crew up in its helicopter will be smacked out of the air in seconds if the Stray so wishes to.

He has to act now, or those deaths will forever be on his conscience.

Forming the fighting gloves (or boxing gloves, rather) over his fists, Tsuna prepares himself for a jump. Momo regards him with something akin to anticipation, before worming its way into his clothes with a jump.

"Alright," he whispers, voice low and trembling, bracing himself. "Let's do this."

He jumps.

Almost-flying over the town square, he's able to get a better glimpse of the situation. A building that looks like a grocery store has collapsed and trapped people inside, and a group of firefighters and policemen alike are trying to get them out. The tables of what look like a restaurant have been deserted, with all possessions left in their places. It'd almost look like a moment frozen in time, if it weren't for the rubble of the fallen buildings and the dust rising out of the ruins.

The Cheerleader doesn't seem to have noticed him yet, but the TV crew has, a camera pointed his way. He has no time to panick about protecting his identity. Tsuna draws back his right fist, going headfirst toward the Cheerleader.

At the last moment possible, the Cheerleader whirls around, and with a delighted laugh, flings him out of the air with a swipe of the hand. He crashes into the ground, next to the abandoned restaurant.

"How precious!" she cries. "Did you really think I didn't notice you? Aa, but at least, you have some spirit into you, don't you? A lot less boring than all of those guys!" She continues laughing.

He doesn't answer, too busy trying to cough out all the dust he swallowed. A wet splat follows a cough, and he looks down to see blood dripping down from his mouth.

"Internal damage," Momo informs helpfully. "Your magic will most likely heal you before any complication arises."

It's not as reassuring as it should be. Tsuna wipes away the blood on his chin, and gets up. The Cheerleader has stopped laughing by now. In fact, she's looking down at him with a smirk.

"You're a bit slow, aren't you?" she asks, crouching down to peer at him.

He doesn't answer. Most people have been evacuated by now, but he fears that the neighbouring buildings aren't totally empty. The TV crew's helicopter has landed on top of a building, and is filming the confrontation from above.

She smiles, unbothered by his silence. "It's okay, you know! I'm not very fast either." Her smile wavers, and tappers off into something like a scowl. "You'll just have to get faster! That's what I had to do!"

She stands up, and lifts a foot. He sees it coming, though, and hurriedly jumps out of the way. It comes with the realization that something in his right ankle has gone wrong. Hopefully, it will heal in time.

She brings her foot down with a disappointed foot. "Aa, you are fast, after all. Faster than me, in any case." She grins, waving her pom poms around excitedly. "I guess it comes with the size! —and... youth, I suppose."

Tsuna ducks his head down. "Momo, I think my ankle is twisted," he murmurs lowly, keeping his eyes on the Cheerleader. "How long do you think it'll take before it heals?"

"A few minutes at most."

He nods, and readies his fists again. Should he attempt to delay the fight until his ankle heals? What about the blood he coughed up? He can't feel much pain in his chest area — well, a little, of course, but it's not much grander than the pain he experienced when the Welcoming Cat smashed him through walls, and he hadn't coughed up blood back then. However, there's still the possibility that he did something like, puncture a lung, or tear his stomach, something like that... Should he take the chance?

Before he can bring much more thought to it, the Cheerleader lifts up her foot again. This time however, Tsuna barely has the time to dodge.

"I saw you talk!" the Cheerleader exclaims in wonder. "Didn't hear it, for sure, but I saw your mouth move! Why aren't you talking to _me_ , instead?" The question is accompanied with a wild swing of a pom pom, that creates so much wind that it sends Tsuna flying. "You know, I'd like to think I'm _much_ more interesting than anyone else in the world — at least, right at this moment!"

He's landed on his side, this time, and rolled off until he hit a wall. His sides are in so much pain that it feels as if the skin there is melting and peeling off, and he can _definitely_ feel the pain in his chest now. He thinks it might be his right lung — that, or his heart. He's not sure which one is more worrying.

"Get a grip, Blossom," Momo reminds gently. It seems unperturbed by all the rolling around they're doing.

Tsuna grumbles and groans his agreement, but he's barely able to lift himself on his arms before something extremely heavy steps on the whole of his back and the beginning of his legs. The parts of his body that aren't being pressed down upon feel as if they're about to pop off at any second. The inside of his body feels squished, and he's pretty sure he just heard something rupture. A bone, maybe. Perhaps an organ.

The Cheerleader laughs and presses down harder. His own scream of agony tappers off into choked sobs.

"Come! On!" The Stray exclaims, delight in its voice. "You're being no fun at all! Like— like a _limp noodle_!"

He'd suffer a lot less if he were a limp noodle. Tsuna has gone from screaming, to sobbing, to making choked little noise in the back of his throat. He wishes he were dead.

 _It hurts..._

"Don't give up now," Momo says. Tsuna is unsure how it's even still alive, pressed in between the crumbling concrete under them and Tsuna's own chest. "Blossom, please cheer up."

He tries to sniffle back his tears, but finds that he can't even breathe, face so close to the ground.

 _It hurts..._

After another long moment of suffering, the pressure on his back mercifully eases up. His vision is wavering, black spots appearing in the corners, but he still manages the strength to roll onto his back.

The Stray is looking down at him, corner of the eyes lifted upward in happiness. There's a smile on its lips, almost mocking.

"You know..." the Stray says conversionally. "I thought that this wouldn't be fun at all, but in fact..." The creature smiles, wide and innocent. "Your scared and powerless face is just as hilarious!"

Tsuna's breath catches in his throat, and he feels a thick liquid pooling in the back of his mouth. He's forced to roll on his side before he chokes on it.

It's only a moment later that he recognizes it's blood.

"Don't give up," Momo reminds, still hiding in the folds of his clothes.

 _It hurts..._

He's never been more terrified. His limbs are locked up, and he's not sure whether it's because of the pain, or because of the fear coursing through his veins. Even the adrenaline doesn't help.

"Don't give up!"

"Shut... up...!" he manages to whimper out. "You... act like— like... I _want_ to...!" His vision wavers again, but this time, it's because of the tears. He struggles to lift himself up. "But... Mom... and everyone else... I—... I just want to go home!"

The gloves over his hands shimmer, then break into a thousands of little shards.

"Blossom...!" Momo sounds alarmed.

"Giving up?" the Cheerleader asks, voice just a tad disappointed. "Now, that was fast. Too fast for my taste, in fact."

Tsuna grits his teeth, fists balling up.

Mom, Dad... the lovely Sasagawa Kyoko-chan, the cheerful Yamamoto-kun, the terrifying Hibari Kyoya-san... even the scary old Nakagure-san next door... If he gives up now—

 _It hurts..._

"As if..."

"Blossom! Form a new weapon, else it'll—"

" _AS IF I COULD GIVE UP!_ "

In the stunned silence that follows, Tsuna drags himself up to stand on his two feet, fists balled up in front of him.

 _It hurts so much..._

He forces himself to glare up at the Cheerleader. "Someone like you... who enjoys the making others suffer... I've seen plenty." He puts a grin on his face. "But, you know what? I've learned that people like that... are the weakest of all."

"You...!" With a loud growl, the Cheerleader swings at him again.

He's able to dodge the full brunt of the pom pom, but the air and fabric still manages to send him flying. He rolls around a bit more, and the Cheerleader laughs.

"Blossom!" Momo cries.

 _It hurts so much..._

"You're just a bully," he continues, ignoring the trembling in his limbs as he pushes himself up once more. "I've seen plenty," he repeats. "I've never been brave enough to fight back. Strike me once, and I don't get up— that's how it usually is. But, now...! If I don't get up..." He looks up, eyes burning. "If I don't fight back... then everybody else will pay the price."

The Cheerleader is silent, expressionless.

 _...but...!_

"That's why...!" His legs tremble as he gets up. " _I_ _ **CAN'T**_ _GIVE UP!_ "

A golden light appears, slowly expanding into a curved, thin shape. It glimmers and shimmers, gradually taking the form of a long, ornated bow. Instinctively, Tsuna draws the string, and a golden, glowing arrow appears.

If staying close to the Cheerleader is too dangerous, then he'll just have to hit her from afar.

He jumps away from the indent in the ground — was he really the one to put it here? There certainly was a numbness in his body that proved it, and yet it's hard to believe it. In fact, it's chilling to think about it. The Cheerleader put so much pressure onto his back that she made a Tsuna-shaped hole into the ground. His grip on the bow tightens at the reminder.

He points the arrow at the Cheerleader, but doesn't actually let it fly. The Cheerleader looks back at him, face drawn into a tight mask of anger.

"You think you're so tough." Her chest rises and falls in an uneven pattern. "But the truth is, the both of us know who's the strongest here is." With that said, she punches the ground again. He's only barely able to jump out of the way.

"Did you see where her Heart Jewel might be?" Tsuna asks, ducking his chin down. "I thought, maybe it was hidden under her pom poms, but it seems unlikely. She wouldn't attack with her most vulnerable part..."

"Most likely under her clothes." Momo's words are almost drowned out by another attack, this time a desperate double punch. The Cheerleader stumbles, having put too much weight into her punch.

Right. Of course. "Alright. Tell me if you see it somewhere."

He hurriedly jumps out of the way of another punch. The Cheerleader seems to enraged (by what?) to think her actions through. This allows him the time to draw another arrow. He aims at her left shoulder, and fires.

Thankfully, for no reason other than simple luck (and magic, most probably), the arrow hits, and the Cheerleader stumbles back with a startled yelp.

"What the hell?!" She clutches her shoulder, where the arrow is barely noticeable, in comparison with her enormous height. "Did you just seriously—?! Oh, you little—!" She stomps the ground with her leg, and Tsuna is sent flying with it. He crashes into the ground, only a few meters away from her, then rolls out of the way of another stomp.

In a few seconds, he's able to get to his feet and notch another arrow. This time, he aims at her knee, but it hits just a little bit under.

"Ouch!" the Cheerleader yelps, looking barely bothered by it all. "Would you stop?" However nonchalant her words may be, her left shoulder has gained an array of golden, glowing veins, and she keeps glancing at it with worried eyes.

He readies another arrow, but has to jump out of the way, though not before he receives the brunt of rubble falling onto him. His uniform has been damaged once more — he's sure it'll repair itself in a few minutes only. What's more worrying is the persistent white noise in his head. He thinks it might just be from stress, but he's not sure.

When he's finally able to steady himself on his feet, his legs have begun shaking. Apart from the golden veins on her shoulder and her knee, the Cheerleader looks no worse for the wear. He has to end this, and quickly. But how? He has no idea where the Heart Jewel might be located, and nothing in the Cheerleader's behavior has indicated a possible location — no place of her body she's particularly protecting. Will he just have to hit at random until he finally finds something?

He readies another arrow, and lets it fly—at random. It hits her naked stomach, right the place where Tsuna is 100% sure there is no Heart Jewel. Taking advantage of the Cheerleader's stumbling back every time he hits her, he sends another arrow flying. It hits the right of her waist, and she crumbles to her knees.

"What the hell," she's murmuring, voice loud even when she's trying to be quiet. She looks panicked. "What the hell, what the hell. Why does it hurt? It's so little, and yet—"

Mercilessly, Tsuna fires another arrow. It hits the hand covering the arrow on her stomach. By now, golden veins have become forming over most of her body, forming something like a gigantic spider web. He supposes he just has to wait until it reaches the place where her Heart Jewel is.

"Stop!" She shakes her head. She doesn't look frightened, just like a child about to throw a tantrum. "That's not fair! That's not fair at all! I don't have any of those, those long-ranged weapons!"

Yeah, well, smashing him into the ground wasn't fair either.

Her collarbone is beginning to shine quite a bit, through a combined effort of the arrow on her shoulder and the arrow on her stomach. In fact, it's beginning to shine a bit too much. As if there was something important there... her Heart Jewel, perhaps?

Tsuna draws another arrow, but the Cheerleader must notice where his gaze is pointed, because she gets up in a flash, bringing her pom poms up defensively. There's no possible way Tsuna is skilled enough to aim at her collarbone correctly.

"You're acting so arrogant," she's saying, babbling. "So, so arrogant. Like you have all the rights here, like you're better than all the others. But, nuh-huh. I know better, you're just a little child. Too weak. You won't win, yup."

He doesn't pay attention to it. It sounds like she's trying to convince herself more than anything. How to get a good vision of her collarbone? No, wait, looking more closely, it seems like it's her breastbone she's protecting, right in between her collarbones.

He looks around, then decides to jump on top of a neighboring building — that is to say, one that hasn't fallen in ruins. It sets him a little bit higher, but not high enough. Will he have to—?

No time to think about it. His lungs are aching, his legs trembling, and the noise in his ears has become almost deafening. If he spends any more time here without allowing himself (and his magic) to rest, then he'll pass out before the fight is over.

So Tsuna readies his arrow, takes a running start... and jumps as high as he can.

He flies well above the Cheerleader's stunned face. He aims, hands trembling with pain, fatigue, and the pressure of the wind, and prays to any magical entities that he will succeed.

He lets the arrow fly.

Before he can check whether the arrow made it, Tsuna has to prepare himself for the rough landing, except that he has absolutely no idea how you're supposed to land when jumping from high up. He at least manages to soften his fall by rolling and rolling until he crashes into rubble and ruins.

It's then that— "AAAAGH!" a high-pitched shriek echoes.

He whirls around, trying to sit up yet failing, only to see the Cheerleader on her knees.

Did it work?

He forces himself to get up once more, and clumsily runs to catch a glimpse at the Cheerleader's front. Both her hands are clutching at a point above her chest, but he's unable to tell whether it's her collarbone, or her breastbone.

The Cheerleader lets out another, smaller shriek, then collapses face-first. She trashes around a little more, rolling from side to side in what seems like barely-controlled pain. The golden veins have expended to the entirety of her body, only letting out small glimpses of the previous tan pink of her skin. In fact, it looks like the pink is the oddity here, not the bright yellow.

After another pained shriek, the Cheerleader crumples to the ground, limbs splaying out and smashing a building in the way. Her pom poms shimmer, then fade into a light show, sparks flying up into the air. The top of her cheerleader outfit has a tear on the breastbone, revealing the large Heart on her throat. Her eyes are wide open, but blank, and the yellow has become a milky white.

She looks more dead than unconscious.

The door has appeared, with a Heart Jewel floating above: a golden diamond, with some pink, glittering stars sprinkled around, there and there.

Tsuna looks around. Forgoing the Cheerleader's corpse lying on the concrete, their surroundings are in ruins. More than one building have holes in their walls, and there are some fires growing. The civilians have long since been taken away, but the police officers and firefighters are still there, trying to deal with the aftermath of the fight.

"I'll take care of it," Momo says.

"What?" Tsuna asks. "Take care of what?"

Momo gives him an absolutely exquisite _are-you-dumb_ look. "The ruins around you. Can't you see them? I'll help them rebuild."

"You can do that?" He gapes.

"Of course I can. I am a Magical Guardian, and it is my purpose to help my Magician in any way possible. If it means using magic to lessen your guilt, then so be it."

"Well... alright." He looks at the door. "Should I wait for you, then?"

"No. You can go alone." It tilts its head. "I fear my going there would be useless. I lack the empathy needed to collect a Heart Jewel."

Tsuna can't argue with that. Momo has the empathy of a rock. "I'll, uh, leave you to it, then."

Momo nods, then jumps away toward where some firefighters are spraying a fire. Tsuna looks at it go, then silently steps through the door, alone.

—❀—

 _So... this is it_ , the Cheerleader's voice rings out, in the silence of the white space. _You've beat me._

"I suppose I have," Tsuna says lightly. "I just have to collect your Heart, now."

The Cheerleader is silent for a moment, before letting out what sounds like a huge sigh. _Don't take it the wrong way, little magician, but it's not something I want to do, so I won't make the task any easier for you._

There's no possible "wrong way" to take this. Nonetheless, Tsuna smiles. "No offense taken. I'll just have to convince you otherwise. Is there anything you can tell me about yourself?"

The Cheerleader takes a moment to answer. In fact, her answer comes in the form of the world around them wavering, shaping itself into the form of a memory—just like the Welcoming Cat had done.

Tsuna is now standing in the middle of what looks like a hospital room. There's a young lady sitting on the edge of one of the bed, looking out the window with a wistful look. Her left leg is in a cast, and there are crutches leaning against the bedside table.

"Abigail!"

 _That's me._

A new woman has entered the room. She looks older, some wrinkles in the corners of her eyes. A mix of fondness, worry, and exasperation is on her face. "You did it again, didn't you?"

Abigail smiles sheepishly. "Yup. Sorry, mom."

Her mother only smiles, eyebrows creasing up. She goes to stand next to the bed, eyeing the crutches. "You've become a regular by now. I think Dr. Johnson looked more exasperated than worried."

Abigail chuckles, but her heart doesn't seem to be into it. "Yup, that's all me."

"How long are you gonna have the crutches?" her mother asks, sitting at her side.

Abigail's smile becomes pinched. "A few weeks, at most. They said it wasn't too serious. I think they're gonna release me today."

In comparison, her mother's smile is fond. "Oh, Abigail... What am I gonna do with you?"

 _I would have prefered she never say that._

"I... don't think she meant anything bad by it," Tsuna says carefully, not fully sure just what he's stepping into. "She seems to love you a lot, so I think she was just worried."

 _I know,_ Abigail says. _It doesn't make it hurt any less. Feels like she's just_ _—_ _you know? Ready to throw me away whenever I get too troublesome. Like I'm not worth the effort._

Yes, Tsuna knows. Mom, bless her, tends to act like this, too. She doesn't mean anything bad by it, he knows, but... No one would enjoy being called useless by their own mother.

The scene shifts around him. This time, it looks like a school gymnasium, or maybe a basketball court. There's a long line of young girls in cheerleader outfits talking to one another. He's able to spot Abigail in the mix, and goes to her.

"—don't know why you're acting so rash," one of the surrounding girl is saying, hands on her hips. "I mean, it's not like practicing every single day is actually helping you. Do I have to remind you how many times you hurt yourself?"

Abigail gives a sheepish laugh. "Right, I'm sorry."

 _They're always like that,_ Abigail says, the resentment in her voice clear. _You keep hurting yourself, they say. You're acting stupid, they say. Yeah, well, maybe if you were a bit more supportive_ _—_ _!_ It's obvious she's cut herself off.

He waits a moment to see if she'll continue talking, but she doesn't. "Aren't they just worried about you?" he asks, even though he can see where this is all pointing to.

 _I know they are,_ she says. _But there's a difference between being worried and always belittling me. I know I'm acting stupid, I know I'm being reckless, but..._

"No one's asked you why," he finishes for her. "No one is asking you 'what's wrong.'"

 _...it's the same for you, isn't it? I thought so, with the way you talked about bullies._

The scene around them shifts. This time, it's a bedroom, large posters of girls in pretty outfits on the wall, and a multitude of star stickes on the ceiling.

Abigail, in her Cheerleader form, appears, sitting on the edge of the bed. She's taken the pom poms off, and is looking down at her hands, pooled into her lap.

 _I don't have any bullies, she admits, so I know that you've suffered more than I but_ _—_

"Suffering isn't a competition," he interrupts, allowing himself to sit down next to her. She glances up as the bed bounces a little from the added weight. "You said you don't like others belittling you, so don't do it to yourself."

She smiles. Her eyes seem to have lost a little bit of their glow.

 _You remember the hospital, right? The truth is, I... I broke something in my leg_ _—_ _can't remember what exactly it was, that time_ _—_ _and it was while practicing. People around me are always telling me that I should calm down, but..._

She looks up at one of the poster. It depicts a young girl with a smile, sitting down at the edge of a pool, looking up shyly at the camera. She's wearing quite the cute outfit, a mix of aqua blue and cotton candy pink.

 _I'm still young. Well, at least, I was back then._ She laughs. _Those scenes you just saw_ _—_ _they happened years ago. I'm well past high school now, but... It's just... stuck in my head. All those years, spent chasing after the ideal of the perfect girl._

"Perfect girl?"

 _At that time, what was really popular in my school were cheerleaders. The male basketball team was very important, you see, and since I wasn't a boy, I decided that the next best thing would be to become a cheerleader. See what I mean? Since cheerleaders were popular, I became a cheerleader._

 _When long hair was popular, I grew it out, even though I've always preferred short hair. When miniskirts were popular, I wore them, even though I felt horrible in them. When purple was popular, all my clothes had some purple on them, even though I hate that color. You get the idea?_

He nodded.

 _I... I always wanted to be liked_ _—_ _to be... popular, so I forced myself to look the part. Wanted to be just like the other girls, the one in the cheerleader team, especially. They were my friends, you know. And they just..._ _ **shone**_ _!_

 _And... in truth, I was jealous. All those girls, they looked just... so_ _—_ _so happy! They grew their hair out, and tied them up all prettily, prancing around with satisfied and proud smiles. They rocked their miniskirts, flashed just about everyone in the school_ _—_ _but it didn't matter! Why? Because they were happy! They were confident! Bold! They wore purple and yellow together, mixed and mashed colors until all their outfits were perfectly fitted together!_

 _They were happy with who they were, with their appearances and their personalities. Oh, their personalities_ _—_ _you know, I really am the worst for ever being jealous of them, because those girls... Most of them, if not all, were absolute angels. Gave me advice for my hair and my makeup, supported me even when I failed to get to their level, even decided to cheer me up after a bad break up!_

 _They were just... so perfect. Next to them, I was nothing._

"That's..."

 _I was nothing... but I thought, if I work hard enough... then I'll shine just as brightly! So I forced myself to train every day, to get better at being a cheerleader. I forced myself to diet, even though I knew it was bad for my health. Forced myself to act a certain way, repressed parts of myself... I thought, if I could be just like those girls..._

 _I... I shouldn't have done that. Within the few years of high school, my health deteriorated badly. I was underweight, my bones were broken, and my spirit was at its lowest. No matter how hard I tried, I could never attain what I wanted._

"...and the girls? Your mother? Didn't they try to help you?"

Abigail laughs. _Oh, they did. They tried. But they never asked the right questions, and I was too prideful, too caught up in my own disillusions to tell them outright. I_ _—_ _I... I really wish I did. I really do._ Her voice shook. _They could have helped me._

Tsuna's hand encloses around Abigail's. "What about now?"

 _Now? I'm alone, now. My relationships with these girls_ _—_ _ah! It's been months since I last talked to them, and they keep sending me messages, but... I... I don't want to talk to them anymore. It hurts too much to lie to them, you know? And Mom is... she's already worried about other things, and she's getting weaker and older, too. She thinks it's all been resolved, and I don't want to worry her more._

 _You know, now that I've told you all of this, I feel a bit better,_ Abigail says, voice softer now. _I've... never told anyone. I think some of them suspect this is how it happened, but I never actually admitted to it. Never confirmed it._

"I see..." his eyes flit down to Abigail's wrists. Thin white lines, raised skin. Scars. "I'm sorry. It must have been hard."

 _Recently, I've been thinking that I've been doing better. Or, at least, that's what I thought. But then I had the thought... of just_ _ **how much time I wasted**_ _on all of this. My entire youth has been dedicated to the idea of the perfect girl, and yet I didn't achieve it at all. I... If I could go back in time..._ She trails off, voice wistful.

"What are you talking about?" Tsuna asks, stunned. "Your youth? You're still young!"

Abigail laughs. _You sound like a grandma!_

"Grandmas are wise," he says, refusing to be embarrassed. "You should listen to them."

She falls silent.

"How old are you? You don't look much older than twenty. Your friends, would you classify them as young, or as fully-grown adults?"

 _Well, they're certainly no grown ups,_ she says, a hint of humor in her voice.

"And why does it matter so much whether you're young or not? An adult can do just as much as a teenager, if not more!"

 _It's true that I don't have the patience for teen angst anymore..._ she mutters pensively, _and I can buy my own clothes, now._

"I've got no idea of what the full situation is truly like, and I've never met your friends, but..." He glances at Abigail's wrists, then thinks about his own. About Mom's possible reaction. (About the bruises on his skin, and about Mom's non-reaction.) "I think, you should ask for help. Tell them. What's the worst that could happen? You said you couldn't bear lying to them any longer, so if they reject you, then that means you won't have to lie to them, and if they accept you, then that means you won't have to lie to them!"

 _It's unfortunately a bit more complex than that._

"You're the one making it complicated! If these people really are your friends, if they really are the angels you described, and if they keep on sending you messages even now, then it means that they will accept you no matter what!"

 _I... Maybe you're right._

"There's... there's nothing worse than being alone," he admits, voice low, a careful murmur. "That's why... you have friends that love and care for you, so that's why— you should count on them, just as they can count on you."

 _I... I can count on them,_ she repeats back. _Even though I was so jealous of them?_

"Even though you were jealous of them," he confirms. "I think that, if you explain everything clearly, just like you did with me, your friends will be more than willing to forgive every and any ounce of jealousy coming from your part."

 _You make it sound so easy..._ The scene around them wavers, but Abigail only laughs. _You're acting like a therapist. It's kinda cute._ They're back into white space, now. Abigail has disappeared, only her voice remaining. I think I'm ready, now. I'm still scared, but... at least I can be sure I can count on you.

Tsuna flushes, but murmurs his agreement.

 _At least, I hope so!_ Abigail continues, mirth in her voice. _Hope you're not angry with me for trying to kill you, before._

He chuckles along with her, sheepish. "Just like I hope you're not angry with me for fighting back."

 _Nah, not at all._ Her Heart has appeared. _I'll continue to cheer you on,_ Abigail says, voice fading, _so don't give up!_ Everything becomes silent.

The door has appeared. Still, Tsuna takes a moment to breathe in deeply. He takes one last look at the white space, presses a hand against his wildly-beating chest, and steps through the door.

—❀—

When Tsuna steps out, the glowing door closes silently. Momo is sitting on the concrete, tail waving impatiently.

Their surroundings don't look like ruins anymore — or at least, not as much. He's quite sure that the building to his left had a whole chunk of wall missing, but now it's gone back to being a perfectly normal wall. No missing parts. There's no fire anywhere, too. Most ambulances have left already, but there's still one or two, treating people with minor injuries. The police officers are still patrolling.

The TV crew had been reporting on the glowing door, and now that Blossom had come out once more, they're focusing on him.

"—seems that Blossom has finally come out of the door, though we still do not know where it leads—" the TV presenter is saying, talking rapidly.

Momo interrupts. "Everything alright?"

Tsuna nods silently, eyes stuck on the TV crew.

"Alright." Momo gets up, and jumps onto Tsuna's shoulder. "Then, let's g—"

 _Whizz!_

Something blows a hole into the ground at Tsuna's feet. The both of them stop in their tracks to look down at it, silent.

Then, realization strikes him, and his heart jumps to his throat. "That's—!"

" _Duck!_ "

Tsuna does as told, ducking behind a collapsed wall. Just in time, too, because another projectile embeds itself at the spot where Tsuna's head had been.

"Those are...?!"

Momo interrupts. "We must go."

With no more fanfare, both Blossom and Momo vanish into a whirlwind of petals.

—❀—

They — or rather, Tsuna — crash into the ground, as soon as they appear back in his room. He finds himself on his hands and knees, gasping for breath and sweating a river.

"Bullets!" Tsuna gasps, heart hammering. "Bullets!"

Momo nods. "Indeed. Those were bullets."

Today has been too stressful, it seems, because those words — the confirmation that someone has indeed tried to kill him — make him collapse into another fit of sobbing. He burries his head in his bed, kneeling. His knees are hurting, but so is everything else. He feels like one very limp noodle.

He doesn't know how much time he spends there, sobbing his heart out, nor does he know how come his mother doesn't hear him make this much noise. When he's a little bit more conscious of his surroundings, Tsuna realizes that it's now in the evening, and that he must have spent hours crying like that.

His head hurts.

"What was that?" he eventually manages to ask, breathless and tear-stained. His bed looks like it'll have a permanent darker spot, now, wet as it is.

Momo looks grim. "I... do not know."

"You— ah," he chokes on a laugh. "You don't—"

"It appears this was a human-only action. There were no traces of a Stray's influence. Although I did detect something akin to magic on the person who attacked you, this is something common around this place, so it doesn't clue us onto anything."

"Great," he says. "That's just— great! Someone tried to kill me, and we haven't got the slightest bit of clue who— hey," he pauses for breath, and looks at Momo with what must be a crazed look in his eyes. "When I signed up for this, it was only Strays trying to kill me, not humans! —wait, you know what? I didn't even sign up for this! You forced this on me, acting like _I_ chose to do it, but I don't remember ever signing your stupid Contract! Why do _I_ — Why are _humans_ trying to—"

Momo's tail comes to rest on Tsuna's ankle. He chokes on a sob.

"Why would they— Humans— I'm only trying to— Protect! That's the only thing I'm doing, yet they—"

"I apologize, Tsuna," Momo says lowly. "I didn't realize just how cruel humans could be."

His hands are pressing against his mouth, but a sob still manages to escape him.

Its face is still as unexpressive as ever, but this time, he is absolutely sure the flicker of emotion in its voice isn't just him projecting his own misplaced emotions on the creature. "I never considered that you, who are fighting so hard to save them, would ever be treated this unfairly."

Mirroring Missy's conforting actions, Momo's little paws climb into his lap. Tsuna, gasping for breath in between sobs, curls a little over himself, arms held against his chest.

"Perhaps they felt threatened," Momo continues, voice pitched a little lower than usual. "It is not unusual for humans to hurt and attack what they are unused to. Even if some amongst your kin believed in the existence of magic before the mediatization of the first Stray Heart, most thought the idea of it idiotic beyond belief. The attack most probably originated from fear."

Tsuna doesn't answer. He doesn't want to. His fingers softly carress the fur on top of Momo's skull.

"We have to figure out how and why this happened. However... it is perhaps best for you to rest for now."

"...yeah."

—❀—


	3. A Nurturer, Two Nurturers, Three

—❀—

Mom has taken the habit of turning off the radio and the TV as soon as Tsuna comes home. They don't talk about it.

Tsuna doesn't know whether to be grateful or not. He tells so to Momo, and the creature only goes on a rant about how much his mother loves him which — fair, but it isn't like Tsuna didn't already know. The thing is, Mom enjoys listening to the radio. It occupies her mind while she's doing household chores; washing the dishes, swiping dust off the cabinet, sweeping the floor... She only ever doesn't listen to it while Iemitsu is at home, which is to say, _never_.

And since Mom enjoys listening to the radio, Tsuna feels guilty.

"You can turn it on," he tells her one day, after coming back to school. "I mean, if you want to listen, of course."

Mom has a tiny frown between her eyebrows. She puts a hand to her cheek, silent for an instant, but then smiles. "If you're sure!" She flicks the radio on, and goes back to her task, humming along with the pop song that just came on.

Tsuna breathes a sigh of relief, and runs to his room before he's unlucky enough to listen to the news.

—❀—

"Hey there, Missy," Tsuna greets, folding his knees. He gently raps his knuckles under Missy's chin, and she lets out a content, small purr. "Long time no see."

"You saw her yesterday," Momo reminds, as if he needed to be reminded. Missy comes everyday, now.

"Exactly. That was too long ago for my taste." Missy lets out a tiny mew, so Tsuna gently gathers her into his arms, as if he were holding a baby. She doesn't look upset with the change of scenery, only snuggles into his clothes. "What a weird cat." Missy shows her tongue. "You're just lovely, aren't you?" He softly scratches her stomach.

Momo looks suspicious. "Are you sure this is a real cat?"

He grins. "Oh, don't be jealous Momo, you're just as lovely." An embellishment of the truth, really, but, well. He can't possibly tell his only companion that it looks like a monster out of a nightmare.

Momo sniffs.

"What are you doing here, huh?" he asks Missy, continuing on his path home. "Did you just want to visit me? Are you lost?"

Missy mews.

"Yes, yes," Tsuna says seriously, nodding. "I totally understand."

She lets out a long purr, as he scratches the side of her fluffy neck.

"You're hungry?" he exclaims, shocked. "That just won't do! I'm sure the convenience store has some canned tuna... How about it?"

Missy mews in agreement, thrice, rubbing the top of her head against his arm.

—❀—

He has some trouble opening the can, but Tsuna eventually manages to feed Missy. She purrs at him, all the while gobbling down her food. He sits on a nearby bench, and watches her eat.

"Fascinating, huh?"

Tsuna is startled off the bench from how hard he startles. A small, white and pink figure has appeared on the bench. It's a cat. A ghost cat?

"Ah, Missy!" Tsuna recognizes, clambering up to sit back on the bench. "I, uh, I mean, Welcoming Cat. It's... nice to see you again?"

"Don't sound too thrilled," the Welcoming Cat licks its paw. Tsuna can see the pillows under its paw. So cute. There still is the pink heart mark on its belly. "I suspect that you haven't missed me much."

He moves to deny it, then pauses. "Well, we only met once..." He ducks his head down, hoping to hide a shy smile. "But, truthfully, it is nice to hear of you, Welcoming Cat."

The Welcoming Cat's ear twitches. It looks pleased. Chin up, it turns away from him. "I'm lucky your Guardian isn't here. Where is it?"

Tsuna blinks, and looks around, but there is no trace of Momo. "Ah, now that you say so... Where did Momo go?"

The Welcoming Cat snorts. "Of course. Figures it'd disappear as soon as—" It cuts itself off, feline face souring as if it just ate something disgusting, and turns to look at him. "Magician. Please heed my warning: this Magical Guardian of yours... If it were me, **I would not trust it**. There is something deeply wrong about this creature."

There is a strange weight to the words, and Tsuna has to swallow. "You mean, something wrong, besides the, uh," he gestures to the entirety of himself, "the everything."

"Yes, besides that," it sounds amused, ears twitching. Tsuna has the urge to scratch the Welcoming Cat just like he does with Missy.

"Well, don't worry about me," Tsuna smiles. "It's pretty obvious to me that there's something wrong with Momo. I mean, besides the," he gestures again, "the everything."

"You are strange," the Welcoming Cat says, getting up. "I... like your company."

"Aww," Tsuna says.

The Welcoming Cat's ears are twitching like crazy, and it looks away from him. "I must go. I have attracted her attention, now." Its eyes settle on him once more, gaze weighted. "I have done my part. I will leave the rest to you."

"Missy! Missy!" someone is calling in the distance.

Tsuna glances up, and when he looks back, the Welcoming Cat has disappeared.

"Missy!" A little girl appears, frail and sickly. Tsuna recognizes her in one instant: Lizzy! Is that what the Welcoming Cat meant? Tsuna will have to thank it next time they meet — if they meet again (he hopes so). "Missy!"

Missy, who was calmly licking her paws until now, begins to mew.

Lizzy glances over, and brightens. She's out of breath, and her knees are shaking just the littlest bit, but she still runs over and skids to her knees to embrace Missy.

"Is this where you've been?" she murmurs into Missy's fur. "I've been looking for you... Mom and Dad will scold me when they notice me coming back..."

Missy mews.

"Hello?" Tsuna greets, getting up. "Are you her owner?"

"Ah, yes, that's me." She gets up, carrying Missy, with a bashful smile. "Thank you for taking care of Missy," she says, taking the liberty to sit down on the bench, too. She's still huffing for breath.

"Oh," Tsuna says in faux surprise. "You know Missy too?"

"Ah," Lizzy says in genuine surprise. "You know Missy's name?"

"Uh, no, I guess, that's just the nickname I gave her," he flounders. "Weird, huh? I guess Missy looks like a miss." Right. Not suspicious at all, Tsuna. At all.

Lizzy only laughs, as Missy slides away from her embrace, settling in the space between the two of them. "Oh, you know, Missy's a boy."

"What?" He glances down at Missy suspiciously.

She nods. "I thought Missy was a girl for a long time, but we had to go to the veterinarian not too long ago, and I learned that Missy was a boy! What a shock!" She doesn't look shocked at all. Her eyes are dancing with mirth.

"Now I feel like a fool," he says, but a smile is on his lips. "And to think I've been thinking of him as a girl all this time... I should have checked before giving him a nickname." He peers down at Missy, who looks like the happiest cat in the world, head rubbing against Lizzy's thigh, and tail waging lazily on Tsuna's shirt. "He doesn't seem to mind."

Lizzy nods, serious. "He's very carefree." Then grins, "He gets it from me."

"My name's Sawada Tsunayoshi, but most people call me Tsuna." He gives a small bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

She flushes. "I, I'm Kobayashi Elizabeth. Um, I, everyone calls me Lizzie, I guess." She bows, too. "Please take care of me."

He tilts his head, absently scratching the back of Missy's neck. "So... you come here often?" Smooth, Tsuna. Smooth.

"Not really. I've just been looking for Missy." She peers down at said cat. "For the past few days, Missy's taken to disappearing for hours on end. I... was worried, so I decided to follow him."

"Really? I met Missy a few days ago, and he keeps coming back every day."

She blinks. "You mean... He's been leaving because he wants to see you?"

He blinks back. "I, I don't know?" Does the Welcoming Cat have any say in this? Is Missy's sudden infatuation with him because of the Welcoming Cat? Momo said that Missy was attracted to him because Tsuna was holding his Heart, but... "I suppose, yes."

Lizzy looks delighted at the situation, though she makes a valiant effort at hiding it. She looks up pensively. "I, um, I guess that— it'd make Missy pretty sad if he weren't able to meet up with you any longer." She glances at him, shy. "But I also don't want Missy to stay outside for hours on end..."

 _Wow_ , Tsuna wants to say. He wonders just how Lizzy hasn't managed to make a thousand friends yet. She isn't very smooth, but her attempts at constructing friendship are genuine and endearing.

She doesn't continue, though, face flushed, fingers nervously twisting in Missy's fur.

He takes pity on her — and on himself, too. "I can't say adieu to Missy," he offers. "Would it be alright with you if I visited the both of you, sometimes?"

Missy mews loudly.

"I, yes!" Lizzy exclaims, then regains herself. "I mean, of course you can."

They manage to continue past the awkwardness, and chat for a while, up until Lizzy's phone rings. It's a cute ringtone: a soft lullaby played with cutesy pop song noises.

"It's my Mom," Lizzy announces morosely. "She'll scold me for being out without telling anyone."

Indeed, from his perspective of the call, and the pout on Lizzy's face, it does look like she's being scolded heavily. He can sometimes hear the mother's voice rise, and then fall.

"Do you want me to walk you back home?" he asks, after Lizzy asks if she can walk back home on her own.

It takes her a moment to answer, and she just ends up repeating the question to her mother. "She says that my Dad's already on the way. Can you stay until he comes?"

"Sure."

Lizzy stays on the phone with her mother, but they don't say much more. She only hangs up when they see a silver car arriving in the distance.

"I'm sorry for the bother," she says, regretful, getting up, then gathering Missy in her arms. Missy comes willingly, purring. That cat is always purring.

He gets up, too. "It's really nothing. It was nice meeting you, Lizzy." He smiles down at Missy. "You too, Missy."

Lizzy and Missy get into the car (of which the father never gets out of), and they drive off. Tsuna waves at them until the car can't be seen anymore.

"Congratulations on befriending her." Momo says, suddenly appearing on the bench. Its tail is waving, as usual, except that it's just the tiniest bit off rhythm.

"Ah, Momo!" Tsuna exclaims, picking his Guardian up, cradling it into his arms. "Thank you! And where have you been? I was worried."

Momo's ear twitches. (Like the Welcoming Cat...? Perhaps a habit of magical creatures.) "I sensed the Welcoming Cat's arrival, and figured that my presence would unnerve it, thus making the two of you unable to converse freely."

"Oh, so you went on a stroll?" he teases. "It's nice of you to be considerate." Pff, as if Momo even _knows_ how to be considerate. It most definitely only did this in order to facilitate Blossom's "job".

For once, Momo recognizes the mocking tone. It looks... amused? That's a first!

"Well," Tsuna flounders. "Let's go home, OK?"

They stop by a park, and Tsuna buys himself a popsicle as a reward for befriending Lizzy.

"I'm just worried about Abigail, now," he reveals, after they sit on a park bench. Momo is sitting in plain sight, too, but it doesn't seem too worried about a possible cryptid sighting. "I can reach Lizzy — especially now that I have Missy — but Abigail lives far away. How can I help her?"

"Just holding her Heart is enough."

He frowns. "Yes, but can't we fast-forward the process? I'd like to support her when she finally confesses to everything — if she hasn't already done so."

Momo looks just the tiniest bit cross, but nods. "If so is your wish, then I suppose I could bring you to her. You will have to do the rest of the work."

He laughs, startled, nervous. "I— I honestly didn't expect to get this far. So I would be near her, and then I'd just need to find a way to befriend her..." Someone like him, who has no friends except for a Magical Guardian and a cat. "Alright," he says with conviction he doesn't have, "I can do that. I just need— planning. Yeah, I need to plan it."

But the truth is, Tsuna has no idea how people become friends.

And he certainly won't find help in either Momo or Missy.

—❀—

When they get home, the radio is on.

Tsuna listens only for one moment, and comes to a decision. He waits until they are in his room to announce it. "I think I'm gonna, you know, try to listen to what people are saying," he says, fingers twisting in the sleeve of his hoodie. "And watch the TV news on it, too."

Momo looks pleased at his decision. "Indeed, it is a good idea to keep an eye on what the public opinion is. It would certainly limit troublesome surprises."

"R-right..." He hadn't fully grasped it until now, it seems, but it _is_ true that not everyone is as accepting as his mother.

"I also advise you to watch over the authorities' press releases about the situation. We do not want any... _unfavourable_ opinion. Who knows what would happen were they to learn your true identity."

"You don't mean—"

"It is a possibility," Momo admits. "Not one I wish to entertain, but certainly possible. For the sake of your family if not your own, you have to be careful about who to trust, Tsuna."

"I, I haven't told anyone, yet," he reminds. "Does it mean we're safe?"

"Possibly." It takes one look at Tsuna's face, and says, "By which I mean, they most likely will never figure it out, as long as you stay careful — which I know you will be."

That sounds vaguely like a threat, but what would he know? He's not well-versed enough. "But, if they did learn about it..." He hushes his voice down, even though he knows no one but Momo is listening. "What do you think they would do? Since I'm the only one able to defeat Strays, then they'd have to keep me alive, but..."

Momo's beady eyes seem to glint. "I would kill them before they could bring you harm."

"What? God! That's not what I meant!" Tsuna laughs, but it sounds awkward and unsure. Momo sounded serious. Would it really...? "I just mean, do you think they would arrest me? I know it's a special occurrence, considering _magic_ is involved, but I'm pretty sure I'm still breaking at least a dozen laws."

"Indeed." It tilts its head, considering. "Perhaps, they would. It would depend on the place and the people."

Tsuna winces. Yes, he guesses some places are more hard-lived than others...

"Tsuna," Momo calls, serious. "Even if I do encourage you to avoid involvement with the government, I promise to protect you no matter what, even may this world vanish."

"Momo," he murmurs, touched, purposefully ignoring how creepy Momo sounds and looks. He smiles. "Thank you, Momo. No matter the circumstances, I'm glad we became friends."

Momo doesn't answer, but something in its composure shifts: perhaps an ear twitches in pleasure, or perhaps its muscles slacken just the lightest. Tsuna isn't sure whether this patchwork of a relationship can be called a friendship, but he's gonna try. Momo and Blossom are a duo: Magician and Guardian, so why can't Tsuna be its friend?

—❀—

After that, Tsuna really does try to keep up with what people are saying.

"No use blocking my own ears and eyes," he tells Momo. "If I run into things blindly, I'll be at a disadvantage. Especially if the government decides on arresting Blossom."

Momo nods.

Tsuna turns on his computer (lie — he never turns it off, just puts it in sleep mode, like the energy-waster that he is, boo him), and begins with searching news articles.

He skims over them, not having the heart to genuinely read them yet. Most are just summaries of everything that has happened concerning him so far. Others, speculations about what is happening. But all of them have at least a few lines about the government.

 **Any information about the current state of affairs will be rewarded by the government you reside in** , one article says, **in a collective effort to find out what is currently happening.**

There is a few talks about trying to arrest Blossom, but it seems that those are just speculations. Some wonder why no authorities have tried to put an arrest up for Blossom.

Tsuna is curious, too, but his sense of relief is far greater than any curiosity he has. As long as he's safe, it doesn't matter.

With a big sigh, he searches for a "magical girl fight" video. Most of those that appear are dated, and some even have clickbait titles, which is... understandable, admittedly. Tsuna would clickbait a magical girl fight, too.

He clicks on the one about the Cheerleader, if only because the thumbnail looks more HD than the rest. It's simply titled: " **MAGICAL GIRL FIGHT N°2** ", which, hilariously enough, makes it sound like a bad home made video. The channel probably hosts a video of the first fight, too.

The video begins with Blossom already mid jump — that is to say, the first jump, the one that ended up with him just batted away like an annoying fly. And indeed,

The Cheerleader is saying something, but Tsuna can barely hear it through the blood rushing to his ears. It was already hard enough to live it through once, and now he has to watch himself being beaten down mercilessly by someone he now considers like something akin to a friend.

The rest of the video follows the events, and the cameraman only trembles a little bit. It seems to be caused more by the buildings falling apart from the blows of the Cheerleader, than by true nervousness.

They both stay silent, until the video ends. He turns off the sound when an ad immediately starts playing, and instead turns to frown at Momo.

"She was speaking English... Didn't understand much right now, but I understood what she was saying when we were fighting." He doesn't say a word about the fighting in itself — it's pretty obvious how horrible at it he is.

Momo's tail waves. "That is because you were transformed. The language package has been included in your transformed state."

His _what_ now? "You mean... I just— _learn_ languages whenever I'm in uniform?"

"Rather than learning them, every language is immediately translated into the one you understand."

"...Alright." He frowns, then gasps, "Wait! What about _my_ language? Won't people be able to know where I come from?"

Another are-you-dumb look. For someone unable of true emotions, Momo is just mastering those. "I have assured you multiple times that your identity is being protected."

"Right... So what do they hear when I speak?"

"They hear the language they are most familiar with."

Tsuna gapes, eyes going wide. "That's, um... that's crazy. Magic is really powerful."

"Indeed."

He turns back to the computer, still a little stunned. In both videos featuring him, there is not a single hint of him speaking, so it seems as though people haven't figured it out yet, but he doubts it will wait for long. Especially considering how the TV crew was unafraid to come close to the fight last time.

He scrolls down to the comments. As usual, most are complaining about how crazy this all is (and, honestly, he relates so much it hurts).

 **MrNinja**  
Feels like I'm tripping.  
 **Show Replies (58)**

 **yo uh... what the frick**  
Are we _sure_ that this isn't just some crazy art installation?  
 **Hide Replies (3)**  
 **Snowfell**  
Don't we all wish? Seems like it's real though. It's really freaky, but nothing we can do about it, it seems.  
 **Rich Richie Richard**  
I know we've come far with technology but not _that_ far...  
 **Joly Jolie Johnny**  
lol i wish

Then, there's one thread of comments that catches his attention.

 **HorseFkr**  
Is it me or is that Blossom girl just a lil kid? She looks really small, and I'm not talking just compared to that monster, but also the tables of the restaurant. I saw a picture of a journalist standing next to those tables, and the journalist (while being around 160cm, 63 inches for you Americans) is well above Blossom's height. At least one head above, I'd say. Just how young is that girl?  
 **Show replies (127)**

"W-what?"

Momo hums thoughtfully. "I didn't expect them to figure it out this soon."

He turns to face it, and the sight of its impassive face just— "Why do you sound so nonchalant? This is my identity at stake here! You keep telling me to keep my identity secret..." He slumps, hands holding his head. "I thought my magic would keep my identity hidden...? It's only my second apparition, yet they've already figured _that_ out."

Momo patiently waits until he has finished to answer. "You misunderstand. They may figure _things_ out about you — your general height, your age group — but they will never figure out your identity unless it is in their faces — in other words, if you transform in front of them, if you tell them yourself, or if you make it excessively obvious. I assure you, comments, videos, and forums speculating about your height and age won't lead to any identity reveal."

He only feels marginally relieved, frowning. "Alright," he says slowly. "If you say so."

In frustration, he hastily clicks on another video, obnoxiously titled " **IS BLOSSOM REALLY A MAGICAL GIRL?** " in all caps. It's by a young man named **Kugga**.

The video starts on a rapid montage of the times Blossom has dealt the finishing blows, followed by him entering the door leading to the Strays' Heart Jewels. The title card appears, in a magnificent pink font. Everyone seems to have accepted pink as Blossom's default color.

The Youtuber begins with a basic retelling of all events until now. Tsuna skips around until he lands to a good part.

"Now," Kugga is saying, "I think just about everyone on Earth has noticed the large — and by that, I mean _very_ large — resemblance this whole scenario has with the basic plot of a magical girl anime. I mean... Cute outfit?" A photo of Blossom in his fighting uniform appears. "Check! Cute magical companion?" A blurry image of Momo appears. "Check! Although... we'll have to see about the cute part, 'cuz no one's really been able to capture a clear photo of it yet. How about the crazy magical powers?" A short gif of the fighting gloves/robot hands appearing over Blossom's fists comes on. "CHECK! And the creepy but also somewhat cute monsters the magical girl has to fight...?" Photos of the Stray Hearts appear in rapid succession. "That's another CHECK for us!

"So, as of now, with the information we have gathered, it does look like Blossom fits all Magical Girl landmarks... However, does it mean that Blossom fits all Magical Girl meanings? After all, Magical Girls are a mean for women empowerment."

After this, it seems that Kugga begins on an explanation of why magical girls are a fundamentally female-centered genre. Tsuna agrees whole-heartedly, and stays to listen until the end, but that doesn't mean this helps him in any way.

 **Snowfell**  
I feel sorry for that poor little girl... If she really is a magical girl, then there's a large chance that she was forced or coerced into this one way or another.  
 **Hide replies (95)**

Most comments dissolve into them either pitying Blossom, or blaming the government for all of this. One comment even suggests watching a conspiracy theory video.

 **HanaIsMyWaifu**  
 **Kugga** , do you think there's a possibility that Blossom _isn't_ a girl?  
 **Hide Replies (7)**  
 **Doggo is best dog**  
Holy shit I didn't even think of that. What if Blossom is a guy who's just into really into pink?  
 **Kugga**  
I didn't mention it in the video, but yes, it is a possibility. However, as of now, I'm leaning more toward that possibility that Blossom is a girl, since the authorities have been classifying her as one.

"Only one person suspects I'm not a girl," he mutters, saving the link in the description for later. It's indicated as a link to one of the many Blossom forums.

"Another layer of protection," Momo says dismissively.

Tsuna doesn't answer. Strangely enough, being taken as a girl doesn't bother him much. Since his true identity is hidden anyway, no one will make fun of him for it.

He clicks on another video, this one featuring the moment Tsuna got shot at. It's elegantly titled: " **MAGICAL GIRL ALMOST GETS KILLED!** " He doesn't bother actually watching the video, and just scrolls down the comment.

Most are appalled at the fact someone tried to kill what seems like a young girl protecting the Earth, one or two are jokingly praising Blossom on the dodge, and a few are encouraging the attempted assassination.

In short, the video doesn't help Tsuna at all. Instead, he closes the tab, and stares at his background screen. It's a fan illustration of an old anime he enjoyed watching, the story of a young boy who was suddenly thrust into a world full of magic. He remembers having fantasized about the same happening to him. Sour taste in his mouth, he changes the background to a generic photo of flowers.

"You weren't able to find much," Momo eventually says, "but at least you were able to take a quick look at the current opinion regarding you."

"Right," Tsuna says pointedly. He leans back into his chair, and turns off his computer in rage. "You know what? I'm tired. I'll continue this tomorrow."

Momo looks disapproving, but it really has no say in how Tsuna spends his free time.

No matter if he hasn't done his homework, and if he hasn't cleaned his room. Tsuna takes off his socks, and rolls himself into his bed covers.

—❀—

It's just the next morning that another Stray appears.

"Another Stray has appeared," is how Momo wakes him up. His bedside clock reveals that it is four in the morning.

"What? But it's a school day!" Even as Tsuna says so, he flushes. Of course, Strays wouldn't be waiting for the moment Tsuna has free time. "I mean..."

Momo tilts its head, ignoring him. "It does not appear to be far from Namimori. Do you wish to go by foot, or should I bring you there?"

"Um, if you bring me there... does it mean there's less of a possibility people will trace me back to home?"

"I suppose," Momo says, noncommittal, but does transport him to the spot where the Stray is.

They land in a field of overgrown grass and wild flowers, empty of civilization. There are a few trees around, and no trace of any houses or road in the horizon. Tsuna has no idea where he is.

In the middle of the field stands the Stray: a three feet tall, humanoid figure. It has skin the tint of a peach, and snow-colored hair so long it wraps around its limbs and torso. There are two, gold-decorated horns on the top of its head, forming a halo, and the rest of the Stray's body is decorated both by golden armor and white tunic alike. Flowers and grass surround the Stray. The flora seems to be growing at an abnormally fast rate.

It's... certainly a sight. Tsuna is almost blinded by how much the Stray _shines_ , even in the slow dim of the morning light.

"Greetings to you, Magician. My name is the Nurturer," the Stray says, eyelids opening to reveal milky golden. There are no pupils.

"Nice to meet you," Tsuna says, only half joking. "I'm Blossom."

He prepares his stance, but doesn't jump quite yet. He is still unsure whether the Nurturer's attacks are close or long ranged. Still, considering how the Nurturer is just regarding his general direction without any hint of aggressiveness, it looks like he'll have to make the first move.

With a flash of glittery magic, his bow appears. He prepares an arrow, but doesn't point it toward the Nurturer yet. The Stray still hasn't moved. It doesn't seem concerned with the appearance of Tsuna's weapon.

"Are you not going to fight?" Tsuna questions. Is the Stray waiting for something?

It tilts its head."My dear, I do not think we are meant to fight."

Tsuna startles. "What? What do you mean?"

"Isn't this neutral ground?" It gestures to the long expanse of the empty field. There is no one but them. "I do not wish you harm, and it is obvious to my eyes that you abhor conflict of any kind."

"Well," Tsuna says, stance faltering in his surprise. "You're not wrong, but..."

The flora around the Stray is growing, growing and growing. It looks healthy, the grass greener than ever, and the flowers flourishing.

In truth, the Stray, here, is not harming anyone.

"I do believe I am different from my kin," the Nurturer reveals. "There is no anger in me; hurt, yes, but no anger. Neither is there hunger for power." It sighs, long hair wrapping around its limbs. "I only wish... A little bit of tranquility, freedom, and..." It turns its gazeless stare to him.

Tsuna has often been accused of being stupid and naive, but there is something about this Stray... Something genuine and honest.

"Ara?" the Nurturer says, blinking, "Where is your little companion? It seems to have disappeared."

Yes, Tsuna _has_ noticed. He is painfully aware that Momo has once again disappeared. But there's nothing he can do about it: no method of long-distance communication between the two of them. For all he knows, Momo is just two feet away, hiding in the grass to see how Tsuna is doing without its presence.

"A pity," the Nurturer mourns. "I would have loved to kill it."

His stance hardening, Tsuna holds out his two hands, and a long spear appears. (He's just going weapon by weapon!) He grasps it tightly. "To think I almost trusted you," he grits out.

The Stray laughs, but it doesn't sound very amused. "Oh? You would protect that creature? I advise you not to trust it, my dear."

"Oh, yes, because your advice is so trustworthy," he snarks, "especially after you threatened to kill my friend."

"Your... _friend_?" It looks and sounds disgusted by the concept.

"Momo might be the creepiest, most terrifying, and also cutest creature on this Earth..." He readies himself for a jump. "But Momo's still my friend!"

He leaps, spear directed toward the center of the Nurturer's chest. He expects to be batted away, just like with the Cheerleader. Instead, the Nurturer catches him, pressing him against its chest.

How humiliating. It's not that Tsuna prides himself on his fighting skills, it's just that— he's being treated as one would treat an infant or a child on a tantrum.

"What are you doing?!" he demands, trying to use his spear against the Stray, but finds that his arms are caught in its death-grip.

"Child, please," the Stray begins, voice soft.

"Stop acting as if we're on the same side!" He tries to struggle his way out of its grip, but just ends up bruising himself all over the armor the Nurturer wears. At the very least, he manages to turn away from the Nurturer's chest. It's easier to breathe that way.

"I have blinded myself for the sake of those I protect," the Nurturer says gently, grip relaxing. It allows him onto the ground, and he stumbles forward. "I advise you not to do the same, my dear. Is it worth it? I do not know. However, I do know that there always are other alternatives."

His eyes are hurting, so wet that it feels like they'll freeze. His limbs are shaking, and one of his knee gives. He crumples to the ground, twisting around to face the Stray. "What— what does that have to do with me? I'm not blinding myself."

"Are you not?" It laughs, but it doesn't sound very amused. It kneels down, and yet is still towering over him. "Child, do be careful with who you trust, and who you don't. Not everything is as it seems. Remember: do not let others choose for you."

"What? Why—? We're enemies! Why do you keep on giving me advice?!"

"Are we, now? I do not want to hurt you, and I know you are too merciful to hurt anyone but yourself." The hair on its arms tightens, then goes flowing, as if it were underwater. "My child... I only wish you safe."

Inexplicably, the Nurturer extends its arm, and caresses his left cheek. Its milky eyes look fond.

Inexplicably, Tsuna feels sleepy.

"Now, darling, **rest**."

And Tsuna's eyes slide shut.

—❀—

There's a warm ball of fur pressed against his side, sheets covering him up to his chin, and a soft humming coming from the side of his... bed?

"Tsu-kun?"

He forces his eyes open, lazily moving up a hand to rub at them. "Mom...?" he tries to answer, but it comes out warbled.

She brushes a hand through his hair. There's a worried turn to her eyebrows, but she stills smiles at him. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm, uh," he sits up, taking care not to dislodge the ball of fur (that must surely be Momo), "I'm OK." He wants to ask what happened, but the last thing he remembers... the Nurturer...?

It didn't kill him?

Mom's shoulders slump. She looks relieved. "Tsu-kun," she murmurs tenderly, hand caressing his cheek (just like the Nurturer did). She sighs, and gets up, leaning over to hug him to her chest. "You can stay at home today, alright?" She kisses his forehead.

"I, I can?"

"Of course." She squeezes his hand. "How about you sleep some more? I'll wake you for lunch." With one more kiss to his brow, she leaves the room, smiling all the while.

Tsuna waits until the door is closed to peer under the cover. Momo looks back at him, expressionless as always.

 _Where were you_ , Tsuna wants to demand, but he's too fearful of angering his only friend. he bites his tongue. "What happened?"

Momo jumps above the cover. "The Nurturer made you faint, then transported you back to your home. I only untransformed you once I was sure it had left the area and we were safe. Your mother seems to be under the misconception that you are sick."

"It— it didn't try to kill me?!"

Momo looks at him strangely. "None of the Stray Hearts wish to _kill_ you. They just want to _incapacitate_ you long enough that they are able to accomplish their mission." It tilts its head. "Although, you are correct in the fact that it is indeed strange. The Nurturer did not try to harm you."

"Why wouldn't it do anything...?" he murmurs, crossing his legs. "Instead of harming me, it brought me to safety...?"

"My guess," Momo begins, "is that the Nurturer's very essence makes it unable to wish you any harm."

"Its essence?"

Momo nods. "Have you not noticed? Every Stray Heart you have encountered has had a theme. The Welcoming Cat was Elizabeth's companion, and thus was striving to become a welcoming and friendly figure to its owner. The Cheerleader not only had been a cheerleader in her earlier life, but was also attempting to _cheer herself up_ — and was also in need of other people in her life encouraging her along the way."

"So the Nurturer..."

"We can't be sure quite yet, because we have not seen its Heart, but it does appear that the Nurturer's true identity is one of a mother, a father, or simply a parental figure." It turns its beady eyes to him. "Thus, one way or another, the Nurturer was able to recognize you as a child in need, and decided on helping you rather than fighting you."

"That's, um..." Tsuna allows himself to lay back down. "So, what? Did I get adopted by a Stray Heart?"

Momo walks up to his head, ear twitching. "Something like that, yes."

He laughs. It sounds a bit hysterical, but neither of them comment on it. "Now I feel bad. I was trying to defeat them, and they were just trying to help me..."

"Do not forget your goal, Tsunayoshi." Then, Momo pauses. "If it's any reassurance, the Nurturer will still be by your side if you defeat it, since you will be holding its Heart."

Tsuna is indeed reassured, but certainly not pleased. Will he be hurting someone who, even after Tsuna tried to kill them, still wishes him good?

—❀—

"Want to watch TV with me?" Mom asks, that evening. She has a smile on her face.

They used to watch TV every evening, just the two of them. But lately, Tsuna is incapable of doing anything related with the TV.

"OK," he says, forcing a smile.

She grins, delighted. He can't bring himself to deny her.

She turns on the TV, and—

"—and what is the public opinion on this 'magical girl'?" the TV presenter is saying, ever present smile on her face.

Of course, it's the news channel. Mom doesn't switch it off just yet. She seems interested in the subject, but Tsuna just feels nauseous.

A poll appears on the screen. "While some are denouncing her as a scam or a trick, a good part of the population believes that this indeed is real." Another poll appears. "However, it appears that most do not trust her — in fact, above 60% of the people we interviewed wished for the authorities to detain this so-called magical girl." She takes another deep breath, but Tsuna lunges for the TV remote, and turns it off.

"Tsu-kun?" Mom startles.

"Sorry," he blurts out, standing up. "I, um, I'm not feeling very well."

"Oh," she softens, shoulders going down in either disappointment or worry. "You can go to bed if you want to. Do you want some medicine?"

"It's," _it's fine_ , he wants to say, but, that's not true, is it? "I'll be alright."

She nods, and he scurries out of the living room, up the stairs, and into his room.

Momo is sitting on the bed, ever patiently, and looks up when he enters.

"Tsunayoshi?" it questions, as he slides down, back against the door.

"I," he's gasping for air, fists tightly clenched on his sweater. "They—"

"Tsunayoshi..."

He squeezes his eyes shut, and gets up. He grabs his pajama's, and runs back out of the room.

When he gets back to his bedroom, this time in pajama's, Momo is still on the bed. Once again, it looks up when he enters.

"Are you alright?"

And Tsuna— he had planned to just forget everything, to just go to sleep, and deal with this whole mess the next day. But, there's something in Momo's voice. A worried tilt he might imagine, or a sign in its body language he might be fantasizing, and—

"I'm a mistake," just comes tumbling out.

"I fear you have lost me."

He flushes, refusing to meet Momo's eyes. His own are already watering. In fact, they're still wet from the crying fit he had in the bathroom.

"I mean. Choosing me was a mistake."

Momo makes a noise as if it was sighing."Tsunayoshi..."

"Momo! You've got to be more logical!" Tsuna, in all his pajama's and tear-stained cheeks glory, cries. "It's obvious to anyone with eyes that I'm the worst possible choice for fighting the Strays. I just don't understand why you persist on making me the Magician. Isn't there _anyone_ else who could do it?"

"I've already told you multiple times, Tsunayoshi."

"Yeah, you've told me, but it doesn't make sense! How on Earth could a pathetic boy like me even begin to square off with creatures like Stray Hearts? If it weren't for my magic, then I'd be dead! I have no strategic thinking, Momo!" He huffs a breath, crossing his arms. "And how exactly did you come to the conclusion that I was the best suited for all of this?"

"I have visualised every possible future," Momo reveals, gaze inpenetrable. "Everyone — every being on this planet — I have tested. And only with _you_ , were we ever able to survive, and then continue on living."

"What?! That's the first time I hear about this! Since you have enough — I don't know — power or magic or whatever to be able to see into the future — _multiple_ futures! — then can't you just save the Strays yourself?!"

Momo tilts its head. "I don't have the emotions necessary in order to heal the Stray Hearts."

Tsuna blinks. "Right. Well, even so, couldn't _you_ fight, and then I — or anyone else! — could heal the Strays?"

It blinks back. "When I gave you the ability to heal and fight, I lost most of my powers. I would be useless in a fight."

Tsuna gapes. "You're blaming me now?" Then, shakes his head. "No, never mind. It's just— I don't know what to tell you. I really do believe I'm not fit for the job, I mean—! Just look at me!" He wipes his cheeks to prove his point, but his tears have already dried. His skin just feels weirdly dry, now. "I'm all broken up about this, can't go one day without— without—" His sniffles come back at the thought. "I mean..."

Momo sighs.

"Blossom, please do listen to me. I'm not trying to force you into this, but... you don't have a choice — not anymore. The Contract has already been signed, a long time ago, and neither of us can change that. If you don't fulfill your part of the Contract, then—" It pauses, almost hesitant. "Well, let's not talk about that. How about you sleep on it? We'll see tomorrow."

Tsuna wants to protest, but his head chooses that moment to throb painfully. "Yeah," he says instead, bunching up his bed covers in his fists. "Good night."

He takes great pleasure in turning away from Momo.

—❀—


End file.
